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Richa Mishra

NEW DELHI, April 8

AFTER a year of corporate consolidation and restructuring, the colour picture tube (CPT) manufacturer, Samtel Colour Ltd, part of Rs 1,200-crore the Samtel Group, is all set to expand its product portfolio.

Close on the heels of launching super-flat tubes, the company is now looking at foraying into colour display tubes (CDT) and flat panels later this year. Subsequently, it would look to increase the capacity of super-flat tubes also.

"These super-flat tubes have been made at the recently commissioned plant of Samtel Colour, with a capacity of 2.2 million tubes per annum. The plant would manufacture both super-flat TV tubes and colour display tubes," Mr Satish Kaura, Chairman, Samtel Group, said.

Talking to Business Line, Mr Kaura said, "The recently commissioned Line 3 is also designed to produce CDT. This expansion also marks a major investment by Samtel in the rapidly growing IT industry in the country. The domestic demand for computer monitors was about two million this financial year and is expected to grow rapidly in the years to come."

Commenting on the market for 21-inch super-flat tubes, he said the market for these tubes was expected to be approximately seven lakh in 2002-03 as compared with about two lakh in the previous financial year.

The month of February saw a record demand with respect to the super flat tubes with 1.2 lakh CTV using 21-inch super-flat tubes being manufactured by the industry, Mr Kaura said. Some of the major industry players are evaluating the product on a pilot basis, he said.

In line with its strategy to become a strong regional player, Samtel has been making conscious efforts to develop a larger market for its tubes in Europe, Asia and Africa. In the first nine months of the financial year ended December 31, 2002, Samtel Color exported 5.42 lakh tubes against 3.11 lakh during the same period in the previous year, a growth of approximately 74 per cent. Samtel exports about one million tubes to Europe.

The current total CPT capacity in India is 11.2 million against a demand of 8.3 million. The present CPT capacity in India is likely to be utilised in the next two years, as demand grows, paving the way for fresh capacity, he said.

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