Dalmia Cement COO Ujjwal Batria said prices remain weak in some parts of the country and the sector is facing input cost pressure with the rise in petcoke price and packaging bags. 

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd on Thursday announced a capacity addition of 2.3 million tonne (MT) at its plant in West Bengal with a capital expenditure of Rs 360 crore.

This addition at the plant in Paschim Medinipur district increases its capacity to 4 MT per annum, and the announcement came at a time when the cement sector is witnessing a weak price trend in the market in this part of the country due to an oversupply situation, a company official said.

The expansion of the West Bengal unit takes the company’s overall capacity to 29 MT, and the cement maker plans to increase it further to 34 MT by the third quarter of the financial year 2021-22, he said. “We have increased West Bengal plant’s capacity to 4 MT from 1.7 MT. We will add 2 MT by the first quarter of FY22 through a brownfield expansion of our Odisha unit and another 3 MT capacity would be added with Murli acquisition,” Dalmia Bharat ED Indrajit Chatterjee said.

With its latest expansion, the company will be able to cater across West Bengal and neighbouring state like Bihar where demand for the construction material is increasing. The total investment of the group has gone up to Rs 600 crore so far, the official said. The eastern market has seen a sharp decline in cementprices in December due to an oversupply situation, he said.

Dalmia Cement COO Ujjwal Batria said prices remain weak in some parts of the country and the sector is facing input cost pressure with the rise in petcoke price andpackaging bags.

“Margins are under pressure due to an increase in cost,” he said.  Asked about the recent raids by the Competition Commission of India on some cement firms, Batria said, “Dalmia Bharat strictly follows fair trade practices.”  The company officials said the cement demand is expected to improve with affordable housing, mega real estate and infrastructure projects picking up pace.

They said the Centre’s ‘Atmanirbhar’ goal will provide an impetus to cement consumption in the country.  The company will continue to contribute towards nation-building through its manufacturing capacity additions and is committed to the growing demand from the eastern and northeastern states of the country, they said.