Century Ply to set up Rs 1,600-cr plant in Gopavaram, AP

Hyderabad: Century Plyboards (India) Ltd will establish its new and largest intergrated wood panel manufacturing plant at Gopavaram, Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy laid the foundation stone for the Greenfield project. Minister of Industries, Commerce and Information Technology Mekapati Goutham Reddy and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The Kolkata-headquartered company will invest Rs 800 crore in phase 1, out of the total project estimation of Rs 1,600 crore. This plant will provide direct and indirect employment of around 6,000 people. The manufacturer of wood panel has planned to build the globally largest plant to transform the business scenario in the region.

Sajjan Bhajanka, Chairman of Century Ply, said: "We are honoured to collaborate with the AP government to establish Kadapa district's first wood panel manufacturing plant and contribute in developing Gopavaram into the hub of agro-industry in the State. We are investing Rs 600 crore in medium-density fibreboard (MDF) facility and another Rs 200 crore in laminates in the first phase."

"The second phase will see an investment of Rs 200 crore in plywood and Rs 600 crore in particle board business. All phases put together, there will be employment opportunity of more than 2,000 direct jobs and 4,000 indirect jobs. The construction is expected to be completed by December 2024," he said in a statement on Thursday.

CenturyPly will purchase the locally produced raw material directly from them and will increase the realisations to farmers by at least 50 per cent right from day 1 of operations. The company was provided 100-acre land at an undisclosed amount to set up this mega manufacturing plant. "In this project, a majority of people employed will be locals," said Keshav Bhajanka, Executive Director of Century Ply.

"In the first phase, laminates facility will be completed by March 2023, and MDF facility by September 2023. The proceedings of second phase of the construction will be initiated after that. We will be procuring the raw material from AP, including Nellore and Prakasam districts. Going forward, more material come from Kadapa district due to agro-forestry around Gopavaram, Badvel," he informed.

This also marks the beginning of realisation of State government's vision of one lakh acres of plantation in the Gopavaram district that will transform it entirely into lush flora and fauna land. Century Ply will uplift and move this district into a new benchmark of sustainable development. One of the biggest beneficiaries of this significant investment will be the local farmers.

Kadapa district holds an important place on the industrial map of AP for its valuable repository of resources. As the State government has earmarked this region as a potential agro industry hub, this initiative of Century Ply marks the beginning of a series of investment of other industrial entities that will follow leading eventually to making this a significant hub of furniture for the entire country.