Cement, Energy & Environment

Last month, UltraTech Cement and ACC had announced expansion plans. UltraTech Cement, the Aditya Birla Group's cement-making arm, said its board had approved a plan to expand capacity at its unit in Rajasthan by 2.9 million tonnes , with a potential investment of ~2.000 crore that will be funded by internal accruals and borrowings. Cement companies are preparing themselves for expected revival in demand ahead of the 2014 national election, say analysts. Companies are also banking on a interest rate cut by the central bank in June, which they say would revive home sales and construction. Demand for cement in Asia's third-biggest economy has remained depressed as economic growth slowed. In the year ended 31 March, the Indian economy is estimated to have grown 5%, the slowest in a decade, according to the Central Statistics Office. ACC, the nation 's largest cement maker, announced during its annual shareholders' meeting on 5 April that it had started work on the Jamul expansion project. "The project will add around 5 million tonnes of capacity. It will be completed in a phased manner by 2015," said chairman N.S. Sekhsaria. "Following some signs of a general revival, cement is expected to perform well in the coming years" he said . The expected capital expenditure for this project is around ~.3, 300 crore. Heidelberg Cement India Ltd , which has doubled its capacity in India to 6 mt this year, is now looking at acquisitions to further expand its operations, said Himanshu Jindal, general manager, finance, Heidelberg group. The group expects to have 15 mt capacity in India by 2015. "We are hoping that elections should be a driver of growth, and with inflation under control, we are looking for RBI to cut interest rates" Jindal said. In January, Dalmia Cement had announced plans to invest ~ 1 ,800 crore for capacity expansion in Karnataka and the North East to take the company's total capacity to 21 mt per annum by 2014 from the existing 17 mt. Ana lysts say demand for cement will improve. "With strong growth expected in rural housi ng, roads and railways, we expect cement demand growth to improve from 5% in FY13 to 7% in FY14," according to a report by Cred it Suisse. Courtesy: The Mint, Mumbai, 16.05.2013 ACC PLANS ~3000-CR CAPACITY EXPANSION IN EASTERN REGION Cement major ACC Ltd is planning to invest ~ 3, 000 cr to expand its capacity by nearly four million tonnes a year in three eastern region states in the next years. According to Vivek Chawla, Chief executive of East, ACC Ltd , while plans are afoot for expand ing capacities at two existing plants- Jamul in Chhattisgarh and Sindri in Jharkhand- the company expects to start construction of a million-tonne grinding unit at Kharagpur by next January. "We will increase our capacity by 10mt a year from the existing 6 mt a year in three years in the East. This will entail an investment of about 0,000 crore," Chawla told Business Line here. The projects will be financed through internal accrual. He was speaking to news persons to announce launch of a new product line at the company's only (0.6 mt a year) facility in Madhukunda, located near the Asansol Durgapur industrial belt, in west Bengal. ACC acquired the sick facility in the middle of the last decade in a bid to enhance its grip on the regional market. While Damodar Cement still serves as the company's only facility in west Bengal, Chawla said, the company is now in discussion with the State Government for setting up a ~ 600-crore grinding unit near Kharagpur. Discussions are also with the State Government for acquiring about 150 acres for the proposed project. "We expect to being on the project by January 2014. It will take us two years to commission the plant," Chawla added. The company today also launched its premium cement brand ACC plus+ in West Bengal. ACC currently manufacturers 30 million tonnes of cement from 17 factories in India. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, Purulia, 03.09 2013 EMAMI TO INVEST~ 1,000 CR IN CEMENT UNIT Emami is planning to invest nearly Rs 1,000 crore for setting up a cement grinding unit and a 450-bed hospital in West Bengal. "We are working on a plan to set up a 1.5 million tonne cement grinding unit in West Bengal with an estimated investment of Rs 500 crore," Aditya Vardhan Agarwal, Non-Executive Director, Emami Ltd, told reporters on date here on the sidelines of the company's 30th Annual General Meeting. 10 I