Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. (DCBL) plans to double its cement manufacturing capacity in the east to 17 million tonnes in 24 months at a total investment of ₹3,500 crore, said a top official.
“Currently, we have four units operating in the east producing 8.5 million tonnes of cement annually,” said Mahendra Singhi, group CEO, cement and whole-time director, DCBL.
“As part of our expansion plan, we have decided to put up two new units in Odisha and one each in Bihar and West Bengal,” he added.
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Debt, internal accruals
This calls for an investment of ₹2,500 crore in Odisha and ₹1,000 crore in Bihar and West Bengal. The projects would be funded mostly through debt and internal accruals.
Taking part in the groundbreaking ceremony of the third unit (of 2.25 million tonnes of cement and 3 million tonnes of clinker) in Rajgangpur and 2.5 million tonnes in Kapilas, near Cuttack, he said the (civil) work would be completed in 18 months. It entailed an investment of ₹2,000 crore and ₹500 crore respectively.
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“After the completion, our total production capacity of cement in Odisha will increase to 10 million tonnes of cement and 6 million tonnes of clinker,” he said.
Similarly, DCBL is putting up two cement plants of two million tonnes each in West Bengal and Bihar. The first one would be completed in 18 months and second in 24 months.
“We are the only major integrated cement plant in Odisha. We produce green cement using slag and flyash, which has less carbon footprint. We have 24% market share in Odisha and we will continue to maintain our leadership position,” he said.
“There is a growing demand for cement due to infrastructural growth in eastern India and our plan to add fresh capacity through this new unit is an approach to be ready to cater to this growing demand,” he added.
According to him, the eastern units generated revenue of almost ₹4,000 crore with Odisha accounting for ₹1,500 crore.
Mr. Singhi also said they are putting up 8-10 MW solar plant and 12 MW waste recovery plant in Odisha as they were committed to use green energy.