Energypac expands vehicle, generator, steel units

Energypac Power Generation Limited, one of the leading electromechanical companies in the country, is expanding its capacity to make more generators, commercial vehicles and pre-fabricated steel building as their demand is increasing despite the pandemic.

The conglomerate, listed in the stock market, has built new sheds for its vehicle, generator and steel building units alongside the state of the art warehouse at its industrial park at Sreepur of Gazipur.

Industries minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun virtually inaugurated the 18-acre complex on Saturday.

The expanded capacity enabled Energypac to assemble 1,800 JAC commercial vehicles a year, a 50% surge, according to SM Jashim Uddin, head of the company's vehicles unit.

The expanded capacity utilisation already began at his unit.

The 30-40% annual growth in recent years inspired Energypac to explore the sector more. It is going to assemble Ankai branded modern buses within a year along with building the bus bodies, Jashim Uddin told The Business Standard. 

JAC is developing electric vehicles and Energypac has a plan to introduce JAC branded electric commercial vehicles in Bangladesh by 2023.

In the virtual event, Energypac Managing Director Humayun Rashid gave a detailed presentation on the industrial park and its units.

Amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, generator sales are slightly slower, but the recent growth trend in local markets and export opportunities helped the company decide capacity expansion for its GLAD branded generators, Rashid said, adding that the generator plant's capacity doubled to 1,000 units a year.

"We are going to make a European-standard generator, Glad Eco, which will compete with any product with a similar price range," he said. 

Inspired by 4,000-tonne steel structure orders from Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant for this year alone, alongside orders from local and multinational manufacturers and power plants, Energypac is on its way to expand the steel structure unit's annual capacity to 18,000 tonnes from an existing capacity of 11,000 tonnes.

The company is planning to launch an affordable pre-built house in the next year, which is very popular in regional countries including Indonesia, Sri Lanka.

Under the foreign collaboration, Sreepur's steel structure building unit will make the new products.

Finally, there is a 7,200-square-feet warehouse inside the industrial park to store raw materials and finished goods, which are also a part of the automated industrial complex, said Rashid.

Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun said, "Energypac is playing an important role in the country's economic growth. They have generated employment not only in power generation but in vehicles and other sectors too. I wish for the success of the park."

Currently, more than 550 people are working in the industrial park while the Energypac group already employs 10,000 people.

Energypac has business in Power generation and distribution, agro machinery, construction machinery, energy efficiency and energy savings, light and heavy-duty vehicles, renewable energy, low-cost housing, prefabricated material manufacturing and distribution, LPG import, cylinder production and gas distribution, RMG and elevator.

The conglomerate is also expanding its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) capacity.

The group, which leads the country's electric transformer exports, won the export trophy for the fiscal year 2017-18.

Rabiul Alam, chairman of Energypac Power Generation Limited and Enamul Haque Chowdhury, managing director of Energypac Engineering Limited spoke on the occasion where other directors and high officials were present.