Displaying items by tag: India

India: Residents of Haridaspur in Jajpur District, Odisha, launched a protest on 20 January 2020 outside Ramco Cement’s 0.9Mt/yr Haridaspur grinding plant. The New Indian Express has reported that the people allege that the company has fail to delivered promised local jobs. They also accuse it of failing to provide concrete roads, drinking water, healthcare and lighting. The company said that it has yet to receive a memorandum of the protestors’ request.

Ramco Cements commissioned the Haridaspur grinding plant in late 2020.

India: ACC and Ambuja Cements have chosen US-based Blue Yonder to improve their supply chain management. Both subsidiaries of LafargeHolcim are using Blue Yonder’s Luminate Planning software product to help improve sales and operational planning.

"We chose Blue Yonder as our partner for supply chain management digitalisation because Luminate Planning will give us greater visibility into our combined supply chains," said Rajeev Mehta, chief logistics officer, ACC and Ambuja Cement. "The objective of this project is to improve the customer experience and service levels, yet profitably grow by tapping into the synergies of our supply chains, thus maximising capacity utilisation and minimising overall cost."

India: Star Cement plans to increase the cement production capacity of its Guwahiti integrated cement plant in Assam by 2Mt/yr. It also plans to increase its clinker production capacity in Meghalaya by 2Mt/yr. The Free Press Journal newspaper has reported the total cost of the planned investment is US$137m. Managing director Sajjan Bhajanka said that the company would complete the work by mid-2023.

India: Cement producers in southern India have joined together to form the South Indian Cement Manufacturers’ Association (SICMA). United News of India has reported that the association aims to serve as an intermediary between producers and federal and state governments. In this, it says that it will help to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘affordable housing for all’ and ‘infrastructure for future.’ The India Cements vice-chair and managing director Narayanaswami Srinivasan will head the new organisation, supported by Barathi Cement’s director Ravinder Reddy as vice-president and Penna Cement’s director Krishna Srivastava as secretary.

SICMA alleges that the construction industry has exaggerated the effects of rising cement prices on its costs. In so doing, the association says, it has deprived the public of the housing the government had planned. It added that, with around 30% of India’s limestone reserves situated in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana alone, the South has the potential to become a cement hub for development across India, as well as for export.

India: Credit ratings agency ICRA expects cement demand to rise by 20% year-on-year in the 2022 Indian financial year, which starts in April 2021, allowing the local market to return to volumes previously seen before the coronavirus pandemic. In its latest report the credit ratings agency predicts that growth will be supported by rural demand, including affordable housing, and recovery in infrastructure segment, according to the Press Trust of India. Cement production capacity is forecast to increase by up to 22Mt compared to 17Mt in the previous year. Most of this additional capacity is expected to be in the eastern region. Capacity utilisation rates should recover to 64% from 56%.

India: Star Cement has announced the completion of its US$61m grinding plant project in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. The Press Trust of India has reported that the 2Mt/yr grinding plant is set to enter production shortly. This will bring the company’s installed capacity to 6.3Mt/yr. The company intends to source clinker from its integrated cement plant in Meghalaya that has mines nearby. Fly ash will be procured from West Bengal or Bihar.

Star Cement plans to discontinue its lease of another grinding plant in Siliguri, West Bengal, at the end of January 2021.

India: The government of India has granted licences to JSW Cement subsidiary Shiva Cement for the expansion of its cement plants in the state. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that the company has received approval for an integrated capacity expansion of 1.1Mt/yr and a clinker capacity expansion of 1.3Mt/yr.

The state government approved a total of US$730m-worth of planned investments in various industries on 6 January 2020.

India: Meghalaya Cement, Star Cement and Amrit Cement have been accused of illegally mining 1.8Mt of limestone in Meghalaya between 2013 and 2018. The Northeast Now newspaper has reported that the companies mined the limestone in a tribal area of the state without environmental, forest or wildlife clearance or No Objection Certificates (NOCs). Local cement producers also allegedly owe the state government around US$40m in related limestone mining licence fees. All three cement producers reportedly made donations to a local political party.

The state government is also investigating allegations that two of the cement producers have polluted two local rivers, Wah Lukha and Wah Lunar. The former river allegedly turned ‘deep blue’ due to pollution.

India: LafargeHolcim subsidiary ACC has commissioned a new 1.4Mt/yr unit at its Sindri cement grinding plant in Jharkhand. The plant now commands a total grinding capacity of 4.4Mt/yr. The company began work on the expansion in December 2019 in order to strengthen its presence in the Eastern region. It said that the state government and local authorities aided smooth commissioning.

LafargeHolcim India chief executive officer (CEO) and non-executive director ACC Limited Neeraj Akhoury said, "Strong ambition aimed at deliverance of high performance is what guided ACC to establish the commissioning of the Sindri GU-Phase-II within a record period.” He added, “I am proud of the flexibility and agility demonstrated by the team."

ACC managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) Sridhar Balakrishnan said, “The commitment, meticulous planning and collaborative approach by the Project Sindri team in these unprecedented times and commencing the cement production in a record time have set a new benchmark for ACC.”

India: UltraTech Cement has raised around US$137m through unsecured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCD). It has allotted 10,000 NCDs, each worth US$13,700, by private placement. The NCDs will reach maturity on 29 December 2023.