Surya Roshni, manufacturer of lighting equipment and metal pipes, is venturing into cement production.

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The Rs 1,500-crore company will invest Rs 1,000 crore on the production of cement for which a new facility will be set up at Kutch in Gujarat.

"For the cement business, Surya will float a subsidiary — Surya Global Cements. The production is expected to start in three years," said Jaiprakash Aggarwal, chairman and managing director of Surya Roshni.

The company, which has a 25 per cent share in the lighting equipment market, will make a Rs 100 crore investment for having a new facility near its existing plant in Gwalior. The new facility will bring out a few energy-efficient lights and tubes. It will produce high mast lamps and a few other products in industrial as well as domestic lumiaires.

In the lighting segment, the company aims at clocking Rs 1,500 crore revenue in two years from the present Rs 500 crore. The company is also looking at hiking the production share of CFL lamps from 10 per cent to 50 per cent.

According to Aggarwal, after the Central government has imposed an anti-dumping duty on the Chinese CFL lamps, there is a huge market for Indian products. The company is also increasing the volumes of LED lights. It is engaged in talks with various state governments, corporations and other local bodies on supplying LED lamps for street lighting purposes.

Surya Roshni is also in the process of constructing a new manufacturing facility for steel pipes at Bhuj in Gujarat for Rs 400 crore. "The land has been purchased and the project will be completed in one year," he said. The company already has three facilities in Gwalior, Nainital and Haryana. The company aims clocking at a turnover of Rs 1,800 crore this fiscal end. Almost 20 per cent of its turnover comes from exports to over 40 countries.