Birla Corporation Ltd, the flagship company of the MP Birla Group, is looking to scale up cement manufacturing capacity by over 60% to 25 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in the next four to five years.
Birla Corporation and its subsidiary, RCCPL Private Ltd, have 10 cement plants spread across the country, with an annual installed capacity of 15.5 mtpa.
The expansion, which would be partly green-field and partly
brownfield, will entail a total investment of around Rs 5,000 crores, to be
funded through a mix of debt and equity.
The company has already commenced construction
of the 3.9-mtpa green-field project at Mukutban in Maharashtra. It is expected
to be complete by April 2021. The estimated investment on the project is close
to Rs 2,450 crores. The company has tied up with a consortium of lenders for a
12-year term loan of close to Rs 1,625 crores.
According to Pracheta Majumdar, CEO, Birla Corporation, the company would want to become a 25-30 mtpa player in the cement industry in the near future.
Majumdar said that the company has a definite strategy for growth. In cement it wants to be a 25-30 mtpa player and that is the immediate goal. It will reach 25 mtpa by FY25 and will add another 5 mtpa, thereafter, either through greenfield or an acquisition.
Birla Corporation is also setting up the second production line at Kundanganj in Uttar Pradesh of 1.2 mtpa to augment unit capacity to 3.6 mtpa. This apart, expansion of the NCCW plant at Chanderia in Rajasthan has also begun.
It will add clinkerisation capacity of 4,80,000 tonnes that, in turn, can feed the additional clinker needs of the Kundanganj grinding unit. The company will also look to add another production line at its existing unit at Maihar in Madhya Pradesh.
Source: Economic Times
