Roopa Screen plans 119% capacity increase after 96.51% utilisation

Roopa Screen plans to increase rotary nickel screen capacity by 88,800 screens, or 119%, to 163,200 screens annually after its Sanand facility reached 96.51% utilisation in FY 2025-26. The Rs 10.61 crore project combines an adjacent new facility, new equipment and machinery to be relocated from the Narol unit, which ceased operations in December 2025.

Why is Roopa Screen expanding rotary nickel screen capacity?

Roopa Screen is expanding because its operating Sanand facility produced 71,800 screens against annual installed capacity of 74,400 screens in FY 2025-26. Rotary nickel screens are consumable components used in rotary screen-printing machines, principally for continuous printing on fabrics. A Chartered Engineer’s certificate dated September 12, 2026 recorded utilisation of 96.51%.

The FY 2025-26 utilisation rate followed two years of lower output at unchanged capacity. Actual output declined from 62,038 screens in FY 2023-24 to 60,214 screens in FY 2024-25, before increasing by 11,586 screens to 71,800 in FY 2025-26. Roopa Screen says aggregate utilisation does not fully show constraints from differences in screen sizes, designs and technical specifications, which require production changeovers and dedicated planning.

Roopa Screen cites a CareEdge report projecting India’s rotary nickel screen market to grow at a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 10.8% by volume and 12.6% by value between 2020 and 2030. The report identifies textile-printing demand, high-precision printing, automated methods, technical textiles and packaging as drivers, but the projection is not a customer order commitment for Roopa Screen.

How much capacity will Roopa Screen add at Sanand?

Roopa Screen plans to raise installed capacity from 74,400 to 163,200 rotary nickel screens annually, adding 88,800 screens. The proposed addition is 14,400 screens greater than current capacity and would make post-expansion capacity about 2.19 times the existing level. Karan Rajendra Mody, Chartered Engineer of AKV Consulting LLP, certified the proposed capacity in a September 15, 2026 report.

The proposed facility is at Plot No. 191, Gallops Industrial Park-III, Sanand, Ahmedabad, on about 1,174.34 square metres beside the existing Sanand unit. Roopa Screen executed a 10-year lease with Devl Ghanshyam Bhai Thakkar from December 1, 2025 to November 30, 2035. Monthly rent was Rs 40,000 as disclosed, subject to a 5% escalation every two years.

Roopa Screen also intends to consolidate manufacturing in the Sanand industrial cluster. Under a board resolution dated January 2, 2026, machinery from the Narol unit will be moved to the new premises after operations begin, alongside additional equipment. The Narol unit ceased manufacturing on December 15, 2025, and Roopa Screen says the relocation is intended to continue serving orders previously fulfilled there while reducing logistics and operational bottlenecks.

Roopa Screen plans to introduce 1,018 millimetre diameter screens for large-format printing, compared with its current 640 mm, 819 mm and 914 mm products. This product addition depends on procurement and installation of the proposed machinery, while the capacity increase depends on construction, electrical work, approvals and the planned March 2027 commercial-operation date.

What will Roopa Screen spend and how will it fund the project?

Roopa Screen estimates the facility will cost Rs 10.61 crore, with Rs 9.90 crore proposed from net issue proceeds and Rs 70.52 lakh from internal accruals. Internal funding comprises Rs 20 lakh paid for civil construction on July 2, 2026 and a Rs 50.52 lakh contingency. The company says the estimate is based on management estimates and supplier quotations and has not been appraised by a bank or financial institution.

Civil construction is estimated at Rs 2.98 crore, including Rs 2.78 crore proposed from issue proceeds, while plant and machinery is estimated at Rs 6.72 crore and electrical work at Rs 41.01 lakh. The Rs 50.52 lakh contingency equals 5% of total project cost and is intended for machinery-cost changes, land development, permissions, transport, installation and ancillary utilities.

Plant and machinery accounts for Rs 6.72 crore of the Rs 10.61 crore estimate. The proposed equipment includes titanium anode baskets and coils, a transformer, rollers, a lathe, two electric overhead travelling, or EOT, cranes, plating tanks, stands and insulated-gate bipolar transistor, or IGBT-based, electroplating rectifiers. These items support nickel deposition, die preparation, handling, washing and other electroplating-process stages.

Roopa Screen included goods and services tax, or GST, in construction costs because input tax credit, or ITC, may be restricted for works contracts and construction of immovable property under Sections 17(5)(c) and 17(5)(d) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. Roopa Screen says no government subsidy, grant or incentive is proposed for the Rs 10.61 crore project.

What could change Roopa Screen’s expansion cost or timetable?

Roopa Screen’s machinery and electrical budgets are based on quotations rather than placed orders or definitive vendor agreements. The disclosed machinery quotations had validity periods of 30 to 120 days, and Roopa Screen says eventual suppliers and procurement costs may differ. A cost increase after quotation expiry would first be addressed through the Rs 50.52 lakh contingency.

Roopa Screen says a contingency shortfall would be met from internal accruals, while project cost overruns or a shortfall in issue proceeds could require internal accruals and/or borrowings. The company also states that actual fund needs may change with business conditions, competition or other external factors, allowing management to reschedule or revise expenditure plans.

The implementation schedule places civil work from July 2026 to January 2027, machinery ordering in October 2026, delivery in January 2027, and installation and trial runs in February 2027. Commercial operations are scheduled for March 2027. Construction permission was received on February 10, 2026 and the Consent to Establish is valid until January 23, 2033, but the building or occupation certificate, Consent to Operate and factory licence remain required before commercial production.

How does the expansion affect Roopa Screen’s working-capital plan?

Roopa Screen proposes to use Rs 6 crore of net issue proceeds for working capital, comprising Rs 4 crore in FY 2026-27 and Rs 2 crore up to December 31, 2027. The company projects working-capital requirements of Rs 17.60 crore at March 31, 2026 on a restated basis and Rs 26.83 crore at March 31, 2028.

The March 2028 projection assumes 90 receivable days, 55 payable days and 70 inventory days. In FY 2025-26, receivable days were 92, payable days were 52 and inventory days were 83. Roopa Screen attributes the inventory-day increase from 52 in FY 2024-25 to 83 in FY 2025-26 to inventory rising to Rs 6.98 crore while cost of goods sold increased to Rs 30.67 crore.

Roopa Screen does not maintain a quantified order book because it describes its screens as consumables bought through recurring and repeat orders rather than long-term commitments. Its projected revenue growth is therefore based on expected customer-base expansion, historical repeat orders and added production capacity, rather than contracted unit volumes.

Conclusion

Roopa Screen’s planned 119% capacity increase follows the documented rise in Sanand utilisation to 96.51% in FY 2025-26. The Rs 10.61 crore project is both an expansion and a consolidation: it adds 88,800 screens of annual capacity, shifts machinery from the closed Narol unit and introduces a planned 1,018 mm product category.

The disclosed milestones are machinery ordering in October 2026, delivery in January 2027 and commercial operations in March 2027. The relevant next developments are whether Roopa Screen secures equipment near quoted costs, receives the remaining operating approvals and covers any expenditure beyond the Rs 50.52 lakh contingency through internal accruals or borrowings.