Mumbai, Oct. 27: Grasim Industries has recorded a 47.93 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 499.78 crore for the second quarter ended September 30 against Rs 337.84 crore a year ago. The company’s total income has increased 25 per cent to Rs 2,576.55 crore for the quarter from Rs 2,061.61 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The group has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 620.01 crore during the quarter against Rs 414.41 crore for the year-ago period, a 50 per cent rise.

Total income of the group has increased to Rs 4,056.49 crore compared with Rs 3,238.93 crore for the same period last year.

The company said that its viscose staple fibre (VSF) sales grew 11 per cent in volumes at 70,183 tonnes on the back of an upsurge in global demand. The company will expand its facilities at Kharach in Gujarat, and Harihar in Karnataka to augment its VSF production capacity by 94,875 tonnes.

It will also spend about Rs 840 crore in the next two to three years to set up a 88,000-tonne greenfield plant at Vijayat, Gujarat to produce VSF.

The company’s cement business registered a 9 per cent growth in production at 3.62 million tonnes during the quarter. It said the costs in cement production remained under pressure because of a steep rise in fuel costs and increased freight rates.

Grasim Industries said it is in the process of expanding its cement production capacity by 10.2 million tonnes at a total cost of Rs 3,480 crore. It will set up a 4.5-million-tonne cement plant at Kotputli, and a 4.4-million-tonne plant at Shambhupura, both in Rajasthan. The company’s capex plan also includes a grinding unit of 1.3 million tonnes at Dadri.

Ultratech Cement, a subsidiary of Grasim, recorded sales of 3.35 million tonnes and a net profit of Rs 184 crore in the quarter.

Grasim’s chemicals business recorded a Rs 40.3-crore operating profit against Rs 9.3 crore a year ago. It contributed 3 per cent to Grasim’s revenue.