Cement Energy and Environment

cement in the State," Industries Minister, MrS. S. Slathia, said. Mr Slathia, who is also Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Cements Ltd , said despite having huge deposits of high quality limestone, the State imports a large quantity of cement from other States to meet its requirement. "This trend needs to be reversed and the local cement plants need encouragement to fill the gap," Mr Slathia said, addressing the Annual General Meeting of J&K Cements in Sri nagar. He said J &K Cements has been authorised to set up a 300 tonnes a day clinker grinding– cum-packing unit at the Industrial Growth Centre (IGC) at Samba, in Jammu, for which nearly three acres of land has been acquired on a lease basis from SIDCO. "The project is estimated to cost about Rs 27 crore," the Minister said, adding that a New Delhi-based company has been appointed as a consultant for the project. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, Srinagar, August 4,2011 Merger & Acquisition ORIENT PAPER TO DEMERGE ('I=MI=I\.IT ~li~I"JESC Orient Paper, a CK Birla Group company, has decided to spin-off its cement business as Orient Cement. It will issue one equity share of Orient Cement for each share of Orient Paper held. The date for the scheme is April 1. The company expects Orient Cement to get listed by April-May. The demerger will be undertaken through a Court– approved Scheme of Arrangement and will be subject to approval of the High Court of Orissa. The company has plans to increase cement production capacity of five million tonnes per annum to eight mtpa by putting up a plant in Karnataka . The project is expected to be completed by 2014. Mr C.K. Birla, Chairman, Orient Paper, said the cement division is being separated for enhancing shareholder value and providing an opportunity for them to directly participate in the pure-play cement company. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, Mumbai, July 28, 2011 LAFARGE EYES MEGHALAYA FIRM TO CEMENT INDIA PL 1\.l Lafarge India is in talks with the promoters of Meghalaya– based Star Cement for a majority stake in the company. This is a part of the French cement major's move to step up its operations in the east. Sources familiar with the developments said, talks between the two have progressed to a due diligence stage. While a deal at $120- $130/tonne valuation seems plausible, the promoters are said to be looking at a considerable premium of $200/tonne. The final deal size, inclusive of debt, could be $250- $275 million ( Rs 1,000- Rs 1,200 crore). YES Bank is believed to be advising Lafarge, while the promoters of Star Cement have appointed Morgan Stanley to help them explore strategic options, including finding a partner for an eventual selloff. Last week, Lafarge, which was finding it difficult to scale up in India, finally had reason to cheer. After waiting for a year– and-a-half, the Supreme Court finally approved of the company's plans for limestone mining in Meghalaya. This will help them take care of raw material requirements for their $250-million Bangladesh ventu re Surma Cements, which has so far been hamstrung and suffering heavy financial losses. Star Cement is a popular brand of Cement Manufacturing Company Ltd (CMCL). Its parent, however, is known more for its flagship plywood products, which sell under the "Centuryply" brand. CMCL, which is a 70.48 per cent subsidiary of Century Plyboards, is the largest cement player in the Northeast, with a capacity of 1.2 million tonnes (mt) in Meghalaya. But it is adding another 3.2 million tonnes grinding capacity in Assam and Bihar. Once completed , this is expected to take up the total capacity to 4.4 mt by the end of 2012. The existing clinker facilities in the Northeast are also getting expanded and Meghalaya alone will have a 1.75-mill ion tonne clinker capacity. Courtesy: The Business Standard, Mumbai, July 12, 2011 4