The Ramco Cements Ltd. is stepping up its presence in the South and East by setting up a greenfield cement plant and expanding its clinker and grinding capacities.
“All these proposals entail a total investment of ₹3,430 crore,” said A.V. Dharmakrishnan, chief executive officer, Ramco Cements Ltd. “After the proposed expansion, our cement production capacity is set to reach the capacity of 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by the end of 2020,” he added.
On Friday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for a 3.15 mtpa greenfield cement plant in Kurnool district. It would entail an investment of about ₹1,500 crore and generate direct employment to 300 people and indirect employment to about 1,000 people.
The company has already obtained environmental clearance for the Kurnool project. The new plant is expected to be completed within 15 months. “It will be a state-of-the-art plant with no-emission and no-effluent discharge and a model cement plant with the least thermal and electrical energy consumption. The plant will have a waste heat recovery system and a thermal power plant for its energy requirement,” Mr. Dharmakrishnan said.
Clinker capacity
Besides the greenfield project, the company is also expanding its clinker capacity by 1.50 mtpa to 4.60 mtpa along with a waste heat recovery system of 27 MW at its Jayanthipuram plant in Krishna district at a cost of ₹740 crore. It would be commissioned in March 2020.
Ramco Cement is also expanding its grinding capacity at Vizag by another 1 mtpa with an investment of ₹250 crore. “With investments of nearly ₹2,500 crore, our production in Andhra Pradesh will be close to 10 mtpa,” Mr. Dharmakrishnan said. In Odisha, Ramco is establishing a greenfield grinding plant with a capacity of 0.9 mtpa at a cost of ₹515 crore with railway siding facility. This is expected to be commissioned by September 2019.
The company is also expanding its grinding capacity in West Bengal from 0.9 mtpa to 2 mtpa at a cost of ₹425 crore with a railway siding facility. This unit is expected to be commissioned in April 2019.
“The proposed capex is expected to be funded largely through internal accruals and balance through borrowings,” he added.