Finolex Cables signed an agreement with the Maharashtra industries department to invest Rs 580 crore to more than double its optic fibre cables capacity to 10 million fibre km per year as 5G rollout is leading to higher demand for last mile connectivity.

Finolex Cables has an existing capacity of 4 million fibre km per year which will touch 10 million fibre km per year after the commissioning of the new plant. The new plant will be solely catering to fibre optic cables, the company said in a statement.

The statement did not specify where the project will come up or when the work will begin and be completed.

This expansion initiative encompasses installation of fibre draw towers and the implementation of backward integration for producing glass pre-forms, crucial in the fibre drawing process.

With this, Finolex Cables will be the second company in the country to manufacture glass preforms, a vital component for optical fibre production.

The proposed upgrade will see the draw tower capacity doubling to 8 million fibre km per year, pushing the fibre optic cables annual capacity to 10 million fibre km from the current 4 million fibre km.