City’s Solar Group expands global & domestic footprint

Nagpur: Solar Group – the Nagpur-based ammunition and commercial explosives maker – is eyeing major global and domestic expansion. The company has started off operations at its new plant in Kazakhstan recently and expects to start its facility in Sierra Leone in West Africa this year. Another plant in Austria is projected to start in the near term. The company has also acquired a small facility in Thailand and Indonesia. On the African front, Solar Group has units in Tanzania and Nigeria. The company, which has also started its Zimbabwe facility, is eyeing South Africa as its hub for future expansions.The foreign units are making commercial explosives used in mining and infrastructure sector. Domestically, the company has plans to expand closer to the consumption centres. The plans include facilities in Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With the acquisition of RECL, a commercial explosives-making company at Dholpur in Rajasthan, Solar Group is eyeing north and westward expansion too. RECL is now Emu Tek Private Limited.These details were disclosed by the company's management during an analysts meeting following declaration of its financial results for the year ending March 2026. The transcripts were part of the disclosure made to the stock market. The company has posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs1,737 crore for the fiscal ending March 2026 as against Rs1,288 crore recorded in the preceding financial year.The company said it has been expanding the facilities at Nagpur where the core plant is located. However, the capacity utilisation has gone up as it has emerged as a global player. Expanding to other states will bring it closer to consumers in these areas. Eyeing an order book of Rs14,000 crore for the next year, Solar says the defence business is expected to stand Rs9,500 crore out of it. The defence businesses have grown to 33% during the year from 20%.