Displaying items by tag: UltraTech Cement

India: Aditya Birla's UltraTech Cement has got the Environment Ministry's clearance to increase the capacity of its Awarpur plant in Maharasthra, which would entail an investment of US$37.7m.

The company plans to increase its clinker capacity to 4.5Mt/yr from 3.3Mt/yr and to increase its cement capacity from 4.48Mt/yr to 6Mt/yr.

"Based on the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Environment Ministry recommendation, the Environment Ministry granted the final clearance subject to certain conditions. The EC was issued to the company on 11 September 2015," said a senior Environment Ministry official.

The company has been asked to comply with specific conditions like developing green belt over 33% of the total project area, installing air monitoring devices to monitor air emission and continuous stack monitoring of facilities to monitor gaseous emissions, among others. The company has also been asked to earmark at least 5% of the total cost of the project towards enterprise social commitment and prepare a detailed corporate social responsibility (CSR) plan for every five years for the existing expansion project.

UltraTech Cement has informed the Ministry that the proposed expansion will be carried out within the existing plant area. The additional power required for the proposed expansion will be 5.1MW.

India: UltraTech Cement Ltd has reported that the tenure of S Rajgopal, Independent Director of the company, ended upon the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the company held on 28 August 2015.

India: UltraTech Cement is seeking clarification from the Indian government over the transfer of limestone reserves as part of its deal to buy two integrated cement plants in Madhya Pradesh from Jaypee Group, according to HT Media. A clause in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 2015 barring the transfer of mines that were not allotted through auctions is delaying mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the mining sector.

According to a clause in the new Act, transfer of the mining licence is allowed only for mines that have been auctioned. Most of the operational limestone mines in India were allotted and not auctioned. The Act allows for these reserves to be auctioned in the future. However, legal experts are divided on whether this clause will apply retrospectively.

UltraTech agreed to buy Jaiprakash Associates' cement plant with a clinker capacity of 2.1Mt/yr and a cement grinding capacity of 2.6Mt/yr at Bela in Madhya Pradesh in December 2014. It then agreed to buy a second plant at Sidhi with a clinker capacity of 3.1Mt/yr and a cement grinding capacity of 2.3Mt/yr. The deal included access to the limestone reserves in Madhya Pradesh.

The new legislation is also expected to affect Lafarge's sale of its east Indian assets to Birla Corp.

India: Ultratech Cement has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation to set up a US$312m, 3Mt/yr capacity cement plant in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. The plant will be set up on around 10.1km² of land, according to the Indian Cement Review.

India: UltraTech Cement has reported a 6% fall in its consolidated net profit to US$92.9m for the first quarter of its 2015 – 2016 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2015. The Aditya Birla Group company had posted net profit of US$98.8m in the same period of 2014. Its consolidated net sales rose by 6% year-on-year to US$1bn from US$942m in the same quarter of 2014. Cement and clinker sales rose to 12.1Mt from 11.7Mt in the same period of 2014.

"Energy costs improved by 7%. The reduction in fuel prices was partially offset by the increase in railway freight. Input prices remained stable, except for the rise in royalty for limestone and levies under the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) (MMDR) Amendment Act 2015," said UltraTech Cement in a statement.

India: Adesh Gupta, UltraTech Cement's non-executive director, has resigned from the board with effect from 30 June 2015. Gupta cited time constraints for pursuing professional and personal engagements as reasons for his stepping down.

India: According to the Economic Times, the waste from city kitchens will soon be recycled into refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at waste processing plants in Kalaburagi City, Karnataka. The RDF from the 10 upcoming waste processing plants in Kalaburagi will be given to cement companies for use as fuel and the biodegradable waste will be used as manure by farmers.

The joint initiative taken up by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development & Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has had agreements with cement manufacturers such as ACC, Vicat Sagar and UltraTech in Kalaburagi.

"Plastic-like material is a good alternative for fossil fuel as it can replace up to 20% of fossil fuel in terms of energy," said KSPCB chairman Vaman Acharya. The pact is yet to be signed and talks between the stakeholders is in the final stages. Transport costs for the RDF are estimated to be less than US$0.016/kg.

The idea to use RDF instead of fossil fuel in Kalaburagi cement plants was first conceived by Hasiru Dala, a Bengaluru-based non profit organisation working on waste management. It has provided 100t of combustible waste to Zuari Cements' plant in Andhra Pradesh in the past two months. Nalini Shekar, founder of Hasiru Dala, said that the material was not sold to the cement plant for a price, but Zuari paid for packaging and transportation. Households have been asked to segregate waste and hand it to BBMP garbage collectors to make the process easier.

India: UltraTech Cement plans to buy Jaiprakash Associates' Bhilai plant for US$330 – 345m. The plant has US$87.5m of debt.

India: Aditya Birla Group´s UltraTech Cement plans to merge the cement division of BK Birla-owned Century Textiles and Industries, Century Cement, in a share-swap proposal with a deal value of US$1.64bn. The transaction, if approved by the boards of both companies, would help UltraTech add 13Mt/yr to its existing capacity of 65Mt/yr, taking it to the total of 78Mt/yr.

India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared Ultratech Cement's proposed US$853m deal to buy two cement plants from Jaiprakash Associates in Madhya Pradesh. The acquisition is for a 2.6Mt/yr cement plant in Bela, with a 25MW captive power plant, and a 2.3Mt/yr cement plant in Sidhi with a 155MW captive power plant, according to the Economic Times.

"Looking at the details of the matter, the combination would not have any adverse impact on the market," the CCI order said.

UltraTech's cement production capacity will rise to 65Mt/yr. The company has set a target to reach 71Mt/yr by 2016. Following the sale Jaiprakash Associates, also know as Jaypee Group, will remain the country's third largest cement producer with a production capacity of 22Mt/yr.