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Ess Dee to revive Vedanta`s India Foils Ess Dee Aluminium, India's biggest pharmaceutical packaging company, has won a regulatory approval to bail out India Foils, which is owned by Vedanta Group, ahead of a possible takeover. Ess Dee, based in Mumbai, has been cleared by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) to help revive Kolkata-based India Foils, part of billionaire Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta group. Ess Dee and Vedanta's Madras Aluminium (Malco), the holding company of India Foils, will form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to turnaround India Foils, which is saddled with liabalities of over Rs 300 crore. The SPV will invest in about Rs 50 crore immediately to upgrade the three manufacturing facilities to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards, eyeing exports to developed markets with value added products and contract manufacturing options, said sources. ICICI Bank, the agency appointed to implement the rehabilitation process, suggested various options and the approval has been given for a mix of these suggestions. Once the company comes out of red, the Vedanta group may hand over India Foils to Ess Dee Aluminium, they said. "We do not have any specific timeframe in mind for the turnaround. The rehabilitation process will begin once we get a formal nod from BIFR. We are awaiting it," said Sudip Datta, chairman and managing director, Ess Dee Aluminium. Datta added that it was still early to predict whether Ess Dee would take over the company. "We have to see how the business prospers and the manner in which it adds value to Ess Dee's business." India Foils, which has a turnover of around Rs 300 crore, and Ess Dee (Rs 800 crore) are the only two major aluminium packaging manufacturers in India. India Foils, the only sick company in the fold of multi-billion metal and mining global major Vedanta, employs about 400 people. Started way back in 1905 as Venesta Foils, the company went on to become one of the largest pharmaceutical packaging companies in Asia with a capacity of 19,000 tonnes per annum and pioneered many new packaging solutions for the Indian pharmaceutical industry. "Vedanta is predominently a mining and metal manufacturer. India Foils' pharmaceutical packaging is a totally different business for the group. Returns were not attractive for Vedanta and, hence, the management did not focus on the company," said an analyst. Sources said India Foils will add another 19,000 tonnes per annum of capacity to Ess Dee Alumium, which faces supply constraints due to lack of capacity. At present, Ess Dee has a capacity of 18,000 tonnes per annum.