Displaying items by tag: Maharashtra

India: Ambuja Cement has purchased a limestone block in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. An estimated limestone resource of 42Mt was acquired via state auction for a price of 125% of the value of mineral dispatched. Formal confirmation via the state government is expected to follow soon.

India: Jaypee Cement is seeking approval from the Ministry of Coal to return two captive coal blocks, which it previously won by auction in 2015. The company has told the ministry that it does not require the coal blocks as it has sold off the attached cement plants, a ministry official told the Economic Times newspaper. The official added that Jaypee Cement could be barred from bidding for other coal blocks for one year and that bank guarantees equivalent to a year’s revenue from the mines could be seized. The two blocks are Majra in Maharashtra and Mandla South in Madhya Pradesh.

Orient Cement agreed to purchase three cement plants from Jaiprakash Associates for US$292m in early October 2016.

India: The credit ratings agency ICRA has predicted that cement demand is likely to increase by 6% year-on-year in the 2016 – 2017 financial year from 5% in the previous period due to a government focus on developing infrastructure and better weather. The growth in demand is also likely to lead to higher prices, especially in the northern and eastern states. Infrastructure development is expected to arise from road and house building.

"With the pace of new capacity addition slowing down, we expect capacity utilisation and the supply-demand scenario to show an improvement, especially in the 2017 – 2018 fiscal year, which should support cement prices and profitability indicators for cement manufacturers," said ICRA Ratings’ Senior Vice-President Sabyasachi Majumdar.

ICRA report that growth in demand for cement slowed to 3.4% in April and May 2016 from 9 – 13.5% in January to March 2016. It attributed this to weak rural demand, especially in Maharashtra, and a slowdown in infrastructure development partly due to a drought. However, demand grew faster in north and east India.

India: The Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Nagpur has barred Murli Industries from selling or mortgaging its assets due to outstanding debts of over US$275m. The nine directors of the company have been asked not to leave the country without prior permission of the tribunal, according to the Times of India. Accusations of financial irregularities have also been levelled at the directors by the tribunal.

Murli Industries runs a cement plant in Chandrapur, Maharashtra that has been described by the Times as ‘practically closed down’. Workers at the unit have not been paid reportedly since the autumn of 2015. Subsequently they have preventing the company from transporting cement or raw materials out of the plant until they are compensated.

India: Century Textiles & Industries is reportedly planning to sell its cement business and merge it in an all-share deal with India's largest cement maker UltraTech. Both companies are in the final stages of a plan to merge the cement businesses, according to local media.

Once approved by shareholders, the merged entity's cement production capacity would total 87M/yr. This would help UltraTech achieve 100Mt/yr ahead of its target of 2020. UltraTech would gain access to the eastern market while strengthening its presence in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

India: Chettinad Cement Corporation is moving forward with plans for projects in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka costing a total of US$616m.

The Indian cement producer is building a greenfield 3.5Mt/yr integrated cement plant in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh at a cost of US$181m. It is expanding its cement plant at Gulbarga in Karnataka to 5.75Mt/yr from 2.5Mt/yr and adding a 130MW captive thermal power plant at a cost of US$330m. It is also building two 2Mt/yr grinding plants and two 50MW thermal power plants at Solapur, Maharashtra at a cost of US$108m.

Chettinad Cement has received all the necessary clearances for its greenfield project in Andhra Pradesh and an expansion project in Karnataka, according to local media. The projects in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are expected to be operational within three years of the start of construction. The company has acquired 1000 acres for its proposed cement plant in Andhra Pradesh and 120 acres for its grinding plant in Maharashtra.

"In the last 20 years, the installed capacity of the cement units has increased from 1Mt/yr to 13.5Mt/yr. With the commissioning of new and expanded units, it is possible to scale up to 20Mt/yr,'' said Chettinad Cement Group Managing Director MAMR Muthiah.

Muthiah added that the company had a debt-equity ratio of 1:1. The upcoming projects will be financed through a combination of debt and internal accruals. Chettinad Cement is also considering expansion opportunities in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. At present, Chettinad Cement is currently operating at 50% of its production capacity due to 'sluggish' market conditions.