Calcutta, July 30: Saint Gobain Glass India Ltd plans to spend about Rs 1,000 crore to develop the world’s largest float glass line in India.

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the 6-billion-euro firm Saint Gobain France.

According to B. Santhanam, managing director of Saint Gobain Glass India, the company will set up a 950- tonne-per-day plant at Bhiwadi near Delhi. This will be the company’s second unit after Chennai. “We hope to start production at the Bhiwadi facility by the end of 2011,” he said on the sidelines of a programme organised by the CII- Suresh Neotia Centre of Excellence.

The company, which has invested about Rs 1,700 crore in India over the last 10 years, dominates the architectural glass market with around 80 per cent share.

According to Santhanam, the company is exploring the opportunities in solar control and solar power glass, which are at “an embryonic stage” now.

“Our plan to invest in the solar power glass segment is in tandem with the National Solar Energy Mission, which envisages the generation of 20,000 mega watt by 2020,” he said.

According to him, around one-sixth of the company’s global investment is likely to be in India over the next few years.