Johnson Plans 47.25-Tonne Paper-Insulated Conductor Line

Johnson plans to enter paper-insulated copper and aluminium conductors, or PICC, with a 47.25-metric-tonne annual line at Unit-II. The new line would have no pre-existing PICC capacity, use Rs 7.33 crore of net proceeds, and target commercial production between February and March 2027, subject to installation and approvals.

Why is Johnson adding paper-insulated conductors?

Johnson is adding PICC as a new product category for transformer, motor and wind-generator applications. Johnson’s current portfolio comprises low-tension power control cables, industrial single- and multicore control cables, housing and building wires, welding cable, solar or photovoltaic cables, and submersible flat cables.

PICC means paper-insulated copper or aluminium conductors. Johnson identifies their uses in oil-filled power and distribution transformers, dry-type transformers, high-tension motors and windmill generators across power transmission and distribution, electrical-equipment manufacturing, industrial infrastructure and renewable energy. The project therefore adds a conductor line rather than increasing capacity in an existing PICC operation, which had nil installed capacity at Unit-II.

Johnson plans the PICC line in a newly constructed factory shed at Unit-II, while stating that the shed’s civil cost was funded through term loans and is not part of the issue objects. The equipment plan covers conductor shaping, paper insulation, heating, testing and packing, including paper-taping machines, a furnace, a flattening mill and a continuous extrusion line.

How much capacity will the Johnson conductor line add?

Johnson’s paper-insulated conductor line is designed for 47.25 metric tonnes annually, based on 150 kilograms a day for 315 working days. The calculation equals 47,250 kilograms per year, and the proposed additional capacity is also the full installed PICC capacity because Unit-II currently has none.

Vishwakarma Consulting Services Private Limited, an independent chartered engineer, set out the capacity assessment in its technical evaluation dated August 6, 2026. The line requires 770.35 square metres in Shed-2, compared with 6,068.98 square metres of free area at Unit-II after 3,930.47 square metres of its 9,999.45-square-metre built-up area was used for the existing Shed-1 set-up.

The machinery list indicates the intended production process. It includes vertical paper taping, horizontal double-decker layer paper taping, double-bunch conductor paper taping, a single-stand flattening mill, a furnace, and a programmable logic controller, or PLC, controlled slitter and rewinder. Proposed quality-control equipment includes a computerized universal testing machine, Vickers hardness tester, profile projector and OHM meter for resistance and conductivity measurement.

How is Johnson funding the PICC project?

Johnson estimates the PICC project cost at Rs 8.50 crore and proposes to fund Rs 7.33 crore from net proceeds. The proposed issue funding consists of Rs 5.72 crore outstanding on placed purchase orders and Rs 1.61 crore for quotations that had not become purchase orders as of the prospectus date.

The placed orders include a TLJ 300H continuous extrusion production line for copper strip and spare parts. Its tax-inclusive cost was Rs 2.81 crore, converted from US$252,919 at the Reserve Bank of India reference rate of Rs 94.0802 per US dollar on April 23, 2026. The orders also include a furnace costing Rs 1.31 crore including goods and services tax, alongside paper-taping, testing and handling equipment.

The Rs 1.61 crore of unplaced quotations covers a fibre-glass machine, a pre-engineered furnace platform and aluminium-and-glass partitions. Johnson says these quotations are budgetary estimates subject to final negotiations and not definitive supplier agreements; their validity dates range from January 19, 2027 to October 19, 2027. The company also says that a quotation lapse, changes in availability, specifications, logistics or negotiations could increase the estimated cost.

What must happen before Johnson starts production?

Johnson plans machinery delivery and installation in October and November 2026, followed by trial runs and commissioning from December 2026 to January 2027. Its implementation schedule places commercial production between February and March 2027, after factory building and civil works marked completed for the February-to-August 2026 period.

The schedule remains dependent on statutory and operational approvals. Johnson has received consent to establish from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board and factory layout and building-plan approval from Mehsana’s Town Planning and Valuation department dated December 31, 2025. Factory-plan approval under the Factories Act, 1948 was pending, while approvals and clearances for the PICC project were listed as in process from April to September 2026.

Johnson also lists consent to operate for PICC from the Gujarat Pollution Control Board as pending after construction and machinery installation. Approval for load release and extension of electricity supply from Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited was in process, following approval to energise the electrical installation. Johnson states that unanticipated approval delays may extend or vary the implementation schedule and deployment of net proceeds.

What determines whether the planned output is reached?

Johnson must sustain the technical evaluation’s assumption of 150 kilograms a day across 315 working days to reach 47.25 metric tonnes a year. Any delay in commissioning, a reduction in operating days or output below the evaluated daily rate would change the production volume implied by the capacity calculation.

The project also has a defined equipment dependency, with Rs 6.86 crore of the Rs 8.50 crore estimated cost represented by purchase orders, including Rs 1.17 crore of advances. The remaining Rs 1.61 crore relates to quotations for supporting equipment and infrastructure. Johnson does not disclose projected PICC sales, customer contracts, revenue contribution or utilisation levels for the new line.

Johnson states that no second-hand equipment and no land acquisition are proposed from the net proceeds for the PICC project. It also discloses that its promoters, promoter group, directors, key managerial personnel and senior management personnel have no interest in the machinery acquisition or quoted suppliers, while the listed vendors are not related to or controlled by the company’s promoters or directors.

Conclusion

Johnson’s 47.25-metric-tonne PICC line would broaden Unit-II beyond its existing wires-and-cables portfolio into paper-insulated conductors used in transformers, high-tension motors and wind generators. The proposal has a defined production basis, 770.35 square metres of designated area and Rs 7.33 crore of proposed net-proceeds funding, while the factory shed civil work was funded separately through term loans.

The next disclosed milestones are delivery and installation in October and November 2026, trial runs through January 2027 and planned commercial production by March 2027. Progress will depend on the pending factory-plan approval and consent to operate, the in-process electricity supply extension, and conversion of Rs 1.61 crore of budgetary quotations into firm orders.