Leading cement manufacturer, Dalmia Cement Bharath Ltd has acquired 500 acres of limestone deposit rich area in Tiruchirappalli, Perambalur and Ariyalur belts in Tamil Nadu for expansion, according to a top company official.
The company has another 500 acres for mining purposes and has been excavating limestone since the last 70 years, from the inception of the factory at Dalimapuram near here, J. V. Gungune, company’s Executive Director told reporters here.
About 75 to 80 per cent of this land is owned by the company and the rest are state owned, which are mining leases.
Mr. Gungune said that a new plant to be commissioned in October at Tamaraikulam and Govindapuram villages near Ariyalur, with an annual capacity of 2.25 million tonnes, would also utilize these limestone deposits. The total quantum to be removed for both plants would be 6.2 million tones a year.
The new unit had already started grinding process and the production of clinker would commence from October 17, he said.
Geological experts had opined that the newly acquired land would inherit limestone with a purity of around 43 per cent of lime/calcium. Besides, some more areas have also been earmarked along the Tiruchirapalli-Ariyalur and Tiruchirapalli-Chennai highways for future prospects, Mr. Gungune said .
DCBL was also identifying scattered limestone deposits in around 300 acres in Karur district, he added.
The company had a blemish less record in adhering to safety norms, with no accidents in the last 18 years.
Operations had been fully mechanised since 1994, he said.
