Şişecam Invests in a 4.5 Million m²/Year Magnetron Sputtering Coating Line in India

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 9, Şişecam disclosed that it will build a new magnetron sputtering coating production facility in India, introducing a Magnetron Sputtering Coater for the production of high-performance architectural coated glass. The project is located at the existing flat glass production base in Halol, Gujarat, with a planned annual coating capacity of approximately 4.5 million m², and is scheduled to commence operation by the end of 2026.

The Halol base is operated by Sisecam Flat Glass India Private Limited, and its existing operations cover the manufacture of float glass, tempered glass, insulating glass, frosted glass, and mirror glass. Recent recruitment information released by Şişecam shows that the base has already been recruiting operators for architectural glass processing and vacuum coating production lines, with job responsibilities including the operation of vacuum coating lines and their auxiliary equipment, setting of production parameters, loading of raw glass sheets into the production line, process monitoring, product inspection, and packaging.

The newly added equipment adopts magnetron sputtering vacuum coating technology, which can form multilayer complex film systems on the glass surface. Şişecam's disclosed product plans include energy-saving glass and glass for green buildings, as well as high-performance coated products with different combinations of color, solar-thermal performance, and surface functions; the new production line can adjust the multilayer film structure according to product requirements for the Indian architectural glass market and related processing applications.

After the project is commissioned, the Halol base will further add a vacuum coating production segment to its existing float and deep processing operations. Magnetron sputtering equipment requires raw glass sheets to be fed into the vacuum coating line, where specific optical and thermal performance is formed through multilayer material deposition, followed by inspection, sorting, and packaging processes. The job information publicly released by Şişecam for the Halol base also shows that the new production system involves raw material feeding, operation of vacuum coating equipment and auxiliary systems, adjustment of production process parameters, and product quality inspection.

The India project is part of Şişecam's 2026 global coated glass capacity expansion plan. The company invested in the construction of four new coating production lines this year, of which two in Bulgaria and Italy have already been commissioned, while the other two are still awaiting commissioning, with the India project being one of them. In January this year, Şişecam commissioned a coated glass production line with an annual capacity of 6 million m² at its flat glass plant in Bulgaria, and in February it commissioned a new coating line at its San Giorgio di Nogaro base in Italy.

Şişecam is also building coated glass capacity in Tarsus, Türkiye. The new production line at this base involves an investment of EUR 25 million, with a designed annual capacity of 7 million m²; after commissioning, the company's globally operating coated glass production lines will reach 7, with a total annual capacity of 48.1 million m². The newly added annual production capacity of 4.5 million m² at Halol, India, constitutes another regional coated capacity allocation by the company.

The Halol base is still staffing up production personnel for the newly added architectural glass processing capacity. Şişecam's recruitment information released in August includes architectural glass processing operators and electromechanical technical positions, all located at the Flat Glass India Plant, with production responsibilities explicitly involving vacuum coating lines. The magnetron sputtering coating line in India is planned to enter the operational phase by the end of 2026.