MD Sajjan Bhajanka in Calcutta on Thursday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta, June 23: Century Plyboard is toying with the idea of setting up a new unit outside West Bengal to take benefit of the relaxed tax regime.

Sajjan Bhajanka, managing director of the company, said the new plyboard unit would have a capacity of 30 lakh square meters and 10 lakh square meters of block board.

“We will be investing about Rs 30 crore to set up the plant,” Bhajanka added.

To take advantage of various tax breaks, the company is looking at states like Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttaranchal and some states in Northeast to set up the unit.

The company will soon initiate discussions with these states. It will also approach the Centrally Empowered Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court, for necessary approvals.

At present, the company is producing 54 lakh square feet of plywood. Its manufacturing facility is located in South 24-Parganas.

Century Plyboard, which is awaiting listing on the National Stock Exchange, has recorded a net profit of Rs 7.77 crore in 2004-05 on a sales turnover of Rs 167 crore.

This year, Bhajanka expects the company’s turnover and profit to cross Rs 200 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively.

The lamination division, which started operation in March 2004, is expected to boost the performance. The division suffered a loss of Rs 2.66 crore loss last year. But the unit has now turned around. “By December, we will reach optimum capacity utilisation,” he added. This division required investment of Rs 30 crore.

The lamination business is about Rs 1,500 crore in the country but a large chunk of it remained in the unorganised sector.