On April 21, Finolex Cables shares rose about 2% in the morning trade after the company plans to set up a plant in Pune, producing optical fibre preforms and expanding its fibre draw capacity.

The plant, holding an initial capacity of 100 tons of preforms, is being set up at worth Rs 290 crore and would be funded entirely out of internal buildups, the company mentioned in a regulatory filing.

The construction will commence with the necessary regulatory approvals, while the production is anticipated to begin 15 months from the construction’s commencement date.

Finolex Cables said that the plant’s capacity would be accessible and extended later as per the market requirements.

The company’s expansion plans came when the demand for solar, automotive, and optic fibre cables increased.

According to PhillipCapital, with an upsurge in commodity prices in January 2023, the wires & cables section observed robust volume growth over a favourable base of last year. However, the previous year’s higher base and pre-buying in January influenced the volumes in February, while March saw a surprise.

According to the brokerage firm, the industry has taken a price increase of 3% to 5% in Q4FY23.

At 9:20 am, shares were up 0.5% at Rs 862.35 on the BSE.