Displaying items by tag: Dalmia

India: Dalmia Bharat has acquired the final 26% stake that it did not already own in Bokaro Jaypee Cement from the Steel Authority of India (SAIL), for US$150m. Bokaro Jaypee Cement has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dalmia. In March 2014 Dalmia acquired Jaypee's 74% holding in the company.

Bokaro Jaypee Cement was formed as a 74:26 joint venture project between Jaiprakash Associates and SAIL, for the operation of a 2.1Mt/yr capacity grinding plant at Bokaro, Jharkhand. The cement produced in the unit was sold through Jaiprakash's distribution network under the brand name 'Jaypee Cement'. However, Jaypee exited the venture and used the proceeds to address its debt.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has closed a case of alleged cartel activity among 11 cement companies due to a lack of evidence. The companies were named as Penna Cements, India Cements, Bharathi Cements, Dalmia (Bharat) Cements, Bhavya Cements, Zuari Cements, Ultratech Cements, Jaypee Cements, Ramco Cements, KCP Cements and My Home Cements.

India: Dalmia Group is looking at a merger of its listed cement companies Dalmia Bharat and OCL India, according to industry sources. As part of the restructuring plan, Dalmia Bharat will also merge its unlisted arm, Dalmia Bharat Enterprises, with itself. Global private equity firm KKR owns a 14.5% stake in Dalmia. Bharat Enterprises will eventually own a minority stake in the merged listed entity.

Dalmia Bharat and OCL India have revived plans of the merger after a failed attempt in 2008. Dalmia Bharat owns 48% stake in OCL India and both companies together have a cement capacity of close to 20Mt/yr. The new entity would be the fourth largest cement producer in the Indian cement industry.

India: OCL India, an associate company of Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd, has invested US$102m in the Bengal Cement Works plant in Paschim Medinipur Distict, West Bengal State.

Puneet Dalmia, director of OCL India, said that US$83.1m had already been spent on the project. According to Dalmia, construction of the 2Mt/yr capacity plant began in 2012 and had recently been completed. This was OCL's largest project outside Odisha State.

"This plant marks the initiation of the company's investment cycle in West Bengal,'' said Dalmia. OCL already has two cement plants at Cuttack and Rajgangpur in Odisha. The Bengal Cements Works will be the anchor investor at the Godapiasal Industrial Park.

India: Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd's (DCBL) cement production capacity will reach 20Mt/yr following its acquisition of Jaiprakash (JP) Associates' 74% stake in a joint venture with the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for US$190m.

The board of DCBL has approved the acquisition of a 74% stake in Bokaro Jaypee Cement Ltd (BOJCL), which is a 74:26 joint venture between JP Associates and SAIL.

"With this acquisition, DCBL's current installed capacity (including subsidiaries and associates) will reach 20Mt/yr," said a DCBL spokesperson.

BOJCL has a 2.1Mt/yr cement unit at Bokaro in Jharkhand. The joint venture has a 30 year clinker supply arrangement with JP Associates and a slag supply arrangement for the same period with SAIL.

"The transaction was completed in a record time with excellent chemistry and cooperation between the professional teams of JP Associates and DCBL," said Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO of Cement, DCBL. "The total enterprise value is US$190m. The proposed acquisition would be funded through a mix of debt and internal accruals."

DCBL also holds a 47.3% stake in OCL India and is expanding capacity there. The company is also setting up a 2.5Mt/yt cement plant at Belgaum in Karnataka with an investment of US$222m.

India: Producers in the south of India have started exporting cement to Myanmar in response to depressed market conditions locally. Chettinad Cements, the India Cements, Dalmia Cements and Ramco Cements have all started shipping cement to Myanmar in the past few months, according to local media.

"We started shipments in January 2014 to Myanmar of about 10,000 - 12,000t. It is not very remunerative, but when the chips are down, we have do something to stay afloat," said Vipin Agarwal, CEO-south, Dalmia Cements. He added that producers make 'token' profits from this market but hope it will become profitable in the future. Dalmia transports its cement from Dalmiapuram in central Tamil Nadu to Tuticorin port for subsequent export. Ramco Cements also starting trialling cement exports to Myanmar in mid-2013, having shipped around 40,000t so far.

Agarwal said that demand in south India has continued to fall with growth in Karnataka, no change in Kerala and decreases in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Cement producers in the region are operating at 55% of their rated cement production capacities. Myanmar is the second export market that cement producers are testing, after Sri Lanka.

India: Dalmia Bharat has appointed Mahendra Singhi as Group CEO for Cement. Singhi previously worked for Shree Cement as the Executive Director.

Currently, Singhi is the co-chair of the Cement Sustainability Initiative in India. He is also on the Board of Governors of the National Council for Cement & Building Materials (NCB), besides being a member of the Central Expert Technical Committee on the Cement Sector on PAT (Perform, Achieve and Trade) scheme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Other positions held include tenure as president of the Rajasthan Cement Manufacturers Association and executive committee member of TERI BCSD. He was also leader of the Indian Cement Sector Task Force for Energy Conservation, constituted by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, at the central ministry of power.

India: Dalmia Cement has announced details about the 2.5Mt/yr cement plant it is currently building in Belgaum, Karnataka. Mumbai newspaper DNA has reported that the Indian cement producer predicts that the plant will create over 1000 jobs when it opens in March 2014. Dalmia has invested over US$210m on the project.

"Though we have had a good presence in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Karnataka has not been a great market for us so far. We have to address this state seriously by ramping up our presence here," said chief executive officer of Dalmia Cement, Vipin Agarwal. He added that the Indian cement producer intends to become one of the top three producers in the state. Currently, the top three cement producers in Karnataka are UltraTech, Zuari and ACC. The company's market share through sales is about 5% from Karnataka, compared to about 14% each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Dalmia has three other cement plants in southern India, including two in Tamil Nadu (Dalmiapuram and Ariyalur) and one in Andhra Pradesh in Kadapa.

India: Dalmia Cement has prepared a US$335m investment plan to ramp up the company's cement manufacturing capacities by the end of 2014. With this expansion the company's total capacity will grow from 17Mt/yr to 21Mt/yr. The move will also help strengthen the company's presence both nationally and in the north east of India.

The company intends to set up a 2.5Mt/yr greenfield unit at Belgaum, Karnataka, for a cost of US$242m and expand its two plants in north-east for US$93m, according to Puneet Dalmia, CEO & managing director of Dalmia Cement. Completion of the proposed expansions is expected to boost the company's bottom line by 10%. The firm, which also owns 45.4% stake in OCL India, will commission its new unit under OCL India by December 2013.

India: Dalmia Cement Bharat, a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Enterprises, has signed an agreement to acquire Adhunik Cement for US$106m. The acquisition and consideration will be made in multiple tranches, subject to adjustments and various other terms and conditions.

Adhunik Cement is a joint venture between two Calcutta–based companies, Adhunik Group and MSP Group. Previously the company invested US$133m to set up a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant in the limestone-rich Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya. It also set up a 25MW coal-based captive power plant for the site.

Dalmia Bharat Enterprise is a cement manufacturer with plants in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with a capacity of 9Mt/yr. The company is engaged in the business of cement, thermal power and other businesses.