The manufacturer of cellulose-based excipients, Sigachi Industries has filed draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to raise around Rs 60 crore. The initial public offer (IPO) is a fresh issuance of up to 28.42 lakh crore face value of a share is Rs 10 each. The Hyderabad based company is engaged in the manufacturing of microcrystalline cellulose (‘MCC’), the polymer widely used for finished dosages in the pharmaceutical industry. The inert non-reactive, free-flowing and versatile nature of MCC has varied applications in the pharmaceutical, food, nutraceuticals and the cosmetic industries. Presently, the company manufactures 50 different grades of MCC at its manufacturing units, situated at Hyderabad and Gujarat under the brand named HiCel and AceCel.

The net proceeds of the issue are to be used for expansion of production facilities of MCC at Dahej and Jhagadia in Gujarat between FY21 and FY22 as well as general corporate purposes. The proposed expansion will add 3600 MTPA capacity to the Dahej and Jhagadia facility, augmenting its capacity to 7890 MTPA and 5760 MTPA respectively.