Date:02/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/02/stories/2007080254641800.htm

Business

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) plans a slew of greenfield ventures

K. T. Jagannathan

The Cuddapah project will go on stream in 2008

To scale up production at Dalmiapuram
Looking for a location in Karnataka

CHENNAI: Even as cement companies are having a field day in the wake of a strong demand on the back of a buoyant economy, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) has decided to embark on a slew of greenfield initiatives to expand its capacity to 15 million tonnes by 2010.

The company will set up a two million-tonne capacity plant at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. It is also on the look out for a suitable location to set up a 2-2.5 million tonne capacity unit in Karnataka.

In an interaction with The Hindu, T. Venkatesan, Chief Executive Officer (Cement) of Dalmia Cement, said Orissa Cement, a subsidiary of the company, would also be doubling its capacity from the current 2.5 million tonnes. Dalmia, h e said, had already commenced work on a two million-tonne greenfield project in Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh.

This project would go on stream by 2008 and the Tamil Nadu (Ariyalur) project in early 2009.

Mr. Venkatesan said production at the Dalmiapuram plant of the company could be scaled up to four million tonnes from the existing 3.5 million tonnes by next year with little modification and not much investment.

Each unit would have a captive power of 25 MW, he added.

Mr. Venkatesan said Dalmia was giving a major thrust on improving the operational efficiency of the equipment.

Pointing to the capacity expansion of the order of 121 million tonnes currently under way in the country, he said prices could soften beyond 2009 for a while.