Displaying items by tag: Maharashtra

India: Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that Adani Group is in talks with a ‘major shareholder’ of Orient Cement over a possible acquisition of the latter’s stake in the CK Birla Group company.

Orient Cement first began producing cement in Telangana in 1982, and has since spread to Karnataka and Maharashtra, with a cement production capacity of 8Mt/yr.

Orient Cement previously leased land in Maharashtra for a new grinding plant from coal-fired power plant Adani Power Maharashtra, an Adani Group subsidiary, in late 2021. Adani Group entered the cement sector following its acquisition of ACC and Ambuja Cements from Switzerland-based Holcim on 16 September 2022.

India: UltraTech Cement says that it recently commissioned two new grinding units in Northern India. The Aditya Birla subsidiary commissioned a new 1.8Mt/yr grinding unit at its expanded Dhar integrated cement plant in Madhya Pradesh on 27 November 2022. The company also inaugurated its new 1.8Mt/yr Dhule grinding plant in Maharashtra. The projects form the first phase of 12.9Mt/yr-worth of planned expansions, announced by the company in late 2020.

UltraTech Cement's managing director Kailash Jhanwar visited the Dhar cement plant to congratulate the team there on its contribution to the expansion drive.

India: Birla Corporation plans to increase its cement production capacity to 30Mt/yr in 2030 from 20Mt/yr at present. It made the proclamation in its annual report for the 2021 – 2022 financial year. Recent developments include the inauguration of its 3.9Mt/yr integrated plant at Mukutban in Maharashtra, run under its RCCPL subsidiary. It is the group’s fourth integrated plant and is reportedly the largest single cement production line in the state. The unit also includes a 40MW captive power plant.

Other developments include plans to expand the capacity of its Kundanganj grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh to 3Mt/yr from 2Mt/yr and a plan to build a new 1.2Mt/yr grinding plant at Gaya in Bihar. The group is also increasing production from its captive coal mines. Output from the Sial Ghoghri coal mine has been increased by 20% above its rated capacity to 30,000t/month. Development of the Bikram coal mine has been advanced and production is expected to start in mid-2023. Finally, the group is adding 8MW of solar power capacity at its Chanderia, Satna and Kundanganj plants in the current financial year and a 10.6MW waste heat recovery (WHR) unit is planned for the Mukutban plant.

India: Police in Mumbai, Maharashtra, have opened a case against a Gujarat-based cement producer on charges of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy. The Times of India newspaper has reported that the accused company borrowed US$27m in 2017 and early 2018, purportedly for the purchase of four clinker carrier ships and the construction of jetties at two sites in Gujarat. However, the producer had mortgaged all four ships, pledging over 20% of its shares. From the funds, it reportedly paid itself for the construction of the jetties, and used US$17.35 to repay outstanding bank loans.

India: Shree Cement has started commercial production at its 3Mt/yr Patas grinding plant in the Pune District of Maharashtra. The project had an investment of around US$80m and it will source clinker from a group site in Karnataka. Covid-19 related delays previously saw the scheduled commissioning date moved from late 2020 to September 2021.

India: Birla Corporation has started the kiln at its new 3.9Mt/yr Mukutban cement plant at Nagpur in Maharashtra. The project had an investment of around US$370m and the plant will be run by subsidiary RCCPL. Birla Corporation said that the new plant is the group’s fourth integrated plant and the biggest single cement production line in Maharashtra by capacity. It will be powered by two 20MW captive power plants that use air-cooled condenser technology to reduce water consumption by 90%. The plant was partly built using the group’s MP Birla Cement Perfect Plus product, a Portland Pozzolana Cement, composed of 30 - 35% fly ash, itself a by-product of thermal power plants. Use of fly ash and slag will be scaled up at the site as production ramps up.

“It is no mean feat to complete such a large project under such challenging circumstances with major disruptions on account of Covid-19 which led to several logistical challenges, stoppage of work and a flight of labour from the project site on several occasions,” said Harsh V Lodha, the chair of Birla Group. “Moreover, to achieve 10m man hours of construction with zero accidents and completion of the entire project without a single major accident or fatality, I am told, is a unique achievement in the cement industry.”

India: UltraTech Cement has announced its decision to temporarily suspend production at its Awarpur cement plant in Maharashtra after it became impossible to operate the plant due to the activities of sit-in protestors. The Times of India newspaper has reported that informal union Vijay Kranti Kantrati Kamgar Sanghatna (VKKKS) organised sit-ins at all five cement plants in Chandrapur district. The organisation is protesting workers’ pay.

India: Wonder Cements has dispatched cement from its Nardana, Maharashtra, grinding plant via a new rail route to Ahmednagar, also in Maharashtra. The Free Press Journal newspaper has reported that Wonder Cement plans to extend its use of the route 'in the near future' to send cement by rail to Mumbai Port. Western Railway's Mumbai Division expects to receive revenues of US$26,700/yr for use of its services. At its current rates, this would equate to annual deliveries of 383t.

India: Birla Corporation’s revenue rose by 42% year-on-year to US$237m in the quarter of 30 June 2021 from US$167m in the same period in 2020. Sales volumes of cement increased by 38% to 3.35Mt from 2.42Mt. However, it noted that its sales volumes were 8% lower than the same period in 2019. Its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 40% to US$47.6m from US$34.0m. The cement producer said, “Better management of the lockdown this year, both by the company and the [government] administration, helped mitigate the effects of restrictions imposed in the areas of operations of the company relative to last year.” It added that construction work had continued to be delayed on its new 3.9Mt/yr integrated cement plant in Mukutban, Maharashtra due to the second wave of coronavirus.

India: Shree Cement is on track to commission its 3.0Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Patas in Pune, Maharashtra in September 2021. The plant was originally scheduled for commissioning in late 2020 but this was delayed due to Covid-19 led-disruption. The unit has had an investment of around US$80m and it will source clinker from a group site in Karnataka. The plant is Shree Cement’s first in western India.