By Sahil Pandey
Berlin [Germany], October 23 : German building materials company Knauf Group plans to invest an additional €350 million in India and establish four new plants, its Managing Partner Murat Akyildiz said after meeting Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal.
Akyildiz told ANI that the company, which already operates two plants in India, is confident about the country’s business environment and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Vocal for Local’.
“We plan to invest an additional €350 million in India because we strongly believe in Prime Minister Modi’s vision of Vocal for Local and Make in India. We have great confidence in the country,” Akyildiz said.
He said the company would begin by establishing its third plant in Gujarat, involving an investment of €80 million.
“Our first step will be to establish a new plant, which will be our third plant overall, in Gujarat. We will invest €80 million in this plant alone. The land is ready, and the machinery is ready,” he said.
Akyildiz said the meeting with Goyal was positive and expressed confidence that the project would move forward quickly
“We have just had an excellent meeting with the minister, and we are confident that things will move forward very quickly,” he said.
Describing India as an attractive investment destination, Akyildiz said the development demonstrated the country’s readiness to do business.
“This is great because it demonstrates that India is always ready for business, and so are we,” he added.
Knauf is a global company specialising in gypsum and gypsum-based products. Its proposed investments are expected to expand its manufacturing presence in India.