Xpro doubles India film capacity; UAE line due this year

Xpro India Limited says its Barjora, West Bengal, dielectric-film line commissioned in March 2026 doubled India nameplate capacity, while a Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, line is expected during the current year. The expansion targets premium thin and ultra-thin films, domestic replacement of imports and overseas customers.

What has Xpro commissioned and what remains to be completed?

Xpro commissioned its new dielectric-film line at Barjora, West Bengal, in March 2026, doubling its India nameplate capacity. Management says the line is ramping up and supplying customers in India and abroad, while extending the product range to premium, performance-critical grades, including ultra-thin films.

Xpro’s next dielectric-film line is being installed at its subsidiary in Ras Al Khaimah in the UAE and is at an advanced stage of implementation. The company expects the UAE line to commission during the current year, adding production scale, geographic flexibility and proximity to global customers, but it does not disclose a capacity figure, capital cost or exact commissioning date.

The two projects form part of a broader asset build-out shown in the consolidated balance sheet. Capital work-in-progress was Rs 299.5 crore at March 2026, compared with Rs 37 crore at March 2025, while property, plant and equipment rose to Rs 350.2 crore from Rs 142.3 crore. The presentation does not allocate these balance-sheet movements between Barjora, the UAE line or other projects.

Why is Xpro prioritising dielectric films?

Xpro identifies dielectric films as its strategic focus and says the larger share of its investments is directed to this high-technology niche. The company describes itself as India’s leading manufacturer of dielectric biaxially oriented polypropylene, or BOPP, films, meeting about one-third of domestic demand; it says the remaining demand is largely met through imports.

The demand case rests on capacitors’ use in electricity generation, transmission, distribution and end use. Xpro links film-capacitor demand to investment in infrastructure, renewable energy, grid modernisation and data centres, while identifying electric mobility as a newer driver through inverters and direct-current-link circuits in electric-vehicle power-control units.

Xpro also cites domestic policy and component localisation as support for the dielectric-film market. It says the production-linked incentive, or PLI, scheme and localisation of India’s electronic-component ecosystem provide further momentum. These are management’s stated market drivers, not quantified forecasts: the presentation gives no addressable-market figure, electric-vehicle sales projection or demand-growth target.

How does the capacity plan support exports and premium products?

Xpro says it already exports dielectric and specialty films to developed markets in North America and Europe, serving newer applications and segments. Its stated global product focus is value-added grades, particularly thin and ultra-thin films for high-performance applications, connecting the March 2026 Barjora upgrade with its export strategy.

Management says global supply of thin dielectric films is concentrated among a few producers and that capacity in India and the UAE positions Xpro to become a significant global supplier. The proposed Ras Al Khaimah location is intended to improve proximity to global customers, whereas Barjora is supplying both Indian and overseas customers during its ramp-up.

Xpro’s stated approach is organic growth rather than an acquisition-led strategy. Management says it is pursuing global scaling of capacity, product advances and sustainable cost competitiveness, based on manufacturing assets, product development, marketing and export capability in niche product areas. It sets no numerical export-revenue or market-share target for the India or UAE line.

What do FY26 figures show alongside the expansion?

Xpro’s FY26 results show lower revenue and earnings than FY25 while gross profit increased. Revenue from operations fell to Rs 505.5 crore in FY26 from Rs 535.3 crore in FY25, while gross profit rose to Rs 154.5 crore from Rs 152.5 crore and gross margin increased to 30.6% from 28.5%.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, was Rs 47.4 crore in FY26, against Rs 50.2 crore in FY25, while EBITDA margin remained 9.4% in both years. Profit before tax declined to Rs 30.3 crore from Rs 52.2 crore, and finance costs increased to Rs 7.5 crore from Rs 5.9 crore. The presentation says deferred-tax accounting makes profit-after-tax figures not directly comparable to performance.

Cash-flow and funding figures indicate the scale of investment activity in FY26. Net cash used in investing activities was Rs 161 crore, compared with Rs 113.4 crore in FY25, while net cash from financing activities was Rs 150.7 crore, versus Rs 202.8 crore. Total borrowings, combining current and non-current borrowings, were Rs 288.8 crore at March 2026, up from Rs 236.8 crore a year earlier.

How does dielectric expansion fit Xpro’s other businesses?

Xpro remains a diversified polymer-processing and co-extrusion business, but management places dielectric films at the centre of the current investment programme. Its other focus area is coextruded sheets, liners and cast films, where it says it is India’s leading supplier of sheets and liners to the refrigerator industry and is expanding capacity at Greater Noida.

For sheets and liners, Xpro identifies India’s emergence as a refrigerator-manufacturing hub, low domestic refrigerator penetration, manufacturing support, rising consumer aspirations and wider retail reach as demand supports. This segment has a separate capacity plan at Greater Noida, whereas the March 2026 Barjora commissioning and UAE installation are specifically dielectric-film initiatives.

Xpro’s product range includes dielectric or capacitor films, specialty BOPP films, coextruded plastic sheets, thermoformed liners and cast coextruded films. Management’s stated priority is to maintain leadership and increase market presence in niche products, but the presentation supplies no segment-level revenue, profitability or capacity split to quantify dielectric films’ present contribution relative to sheets, liners or cast films.

Conclusion

Xpro’s March 2026 Barjora commissioning doubled Indian dielectric-film nameplate capacity as management pursues import replacement, premium ultra-thin films and exports. The expansion coincides with Rs 299.5 crore of capital work-in-progress at March 2026 and an FY26 revenue decline to Rs 505.5 crore, establishing the scale of the build-out without quantifying its financial contribution.

The next disclosed milestone is commissioning of the Ras Al Khaimah line during the current year. Management’s plan also calls for Barjora to ramp up supplies in India and abroad, while future disclosure on UAE capacity, export sales and premium-grade volumes would clarify the operational outcome of the expansion.