Philips Carbon Black Ltd (PCBL), a subsidiary of $3.5 billion RPG Group of companies, has announced that it is proposing to invest Rs 160 crore to expand the capacity of its Kochi plant in Kerala.

Under the expansion plan, the annual production capacity of the plant will be increased from 40,000 to 90,000 tonnes, out of which 50,000 tonnes of soft carbon would be produced to tackle its high demand of black carbon.

Presently ranked ninth in the world, PCBL engages in the production and export of carbon black in India. The company has three plants located at Durgapur, Palej and Kochi.

Moreover, the company plans to set up two new carbon black plants, one at Mundra, Gujarat with a production capacity of 80,000 tonnes, while another at Vietnam with a total capacity of one lakh tonnes.

With the implementation of these plants including in Kochi, PCBL will not only strengthen its business footprints in India and overseas, but it will also become the sixth largest producer in the world.

Work at these plants will commence in June 2009 and be completed by September in the same year.