Displaying items by tag: India

India: Dalmia Bharat, through its subsidiaries, has announced a strategic investment of approximately US$397m in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The company will set up a 3.6Mt/yr clinker unit and a 3Mt/yr grinding unit at its existing Belgaum plant in Karnataka, alongside a new greenfield split grinding unit of 3Mt/yr in Pune, Maharashtra. The projects, funded through a mix of debt and internal accruals, are expected to be commissioned by the fourth quarter of the 2027 financial year. Following completion, and factoring in ongoing 2.9Mt/yr expansions in Assam and Bihar, Dalmia Bharat’s installed capacity will rise to 55.5Mt/yr.

The Belgaum expansion will strengthen supply in southern Maharashtra and deepen the company’s reach in Karnataka, while the Pune plant will focus on the untapped western Maharashtra markets.

Puneet Dalmia, managing director and CEO of Dalmia Bharat, said “This investment is a significant step in our Phase II expansion strategy, bringing us closer to strengthening our position as a pan-India player and to reach our intermittent goal of 75Mt/yr capacity by the 2028 financial year. The increase in our production capacity is primarily to meet the growing infrastructure demand in Western India.”

India: Around 15t of illegal narcotic drugs, valued at US$902,000, were incinerated at Ultratech’s cement manufacturing plant in Khor, Neemuch district, Madhya Pradesh, as part of a major operation by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Nimish Agrawal said the drugs had been seized in about 200 cases registered across seven districts of the Ujjain range. He added that the contraband was destroyed in line with prescribed procedures.

India: Noida International Airport (NIA) has become India's first large-scale project to utilise limestone calcined clay cement (LC3), a low-carbon alternative to traditional cement. In a statement, concessionaire Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) said LC3 was used extensively in the construction of the airport.

Developed for more than 10 years by researchers at IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, Swiss Development Cooperation, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland), Universidad de las Villas (Cuba), and Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), LC3 emits up to 40% less CO₂ than conventional Portland cement. It costs 25% less to produce, uses low-grade limestone and clays and requires lower energy for manufacturing while delivering comparable strength.

India: Gebr. Pfeiffer has officially inaugurated its new manufacturing site in India, just one year after construction began, according to a Linkedin post. The facility is positioned as a key addition to the company’s global production network, complementing its existing base in Germany. Gebr. Pfeiffer said the project strengthens its international footprint while also aligning with long-term goals of efficiency and sustainability.

Producers and associations in India have been praising this week’s reduction in tax on cement. On 22 September 2025 the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on cement was cut from 28% to 18%. Local press showed examples of 50kg bags of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) dropping in price by 8% and Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) dropping by 11%.

Anoop Kumar Saxena, the CEO of Vicat’s operations in India, said its subsidiaries would be, “...passing on the complete benefit of this GST reduction to our customers across both our brands - Bharathi Cement in the South and Vicat Cement in Maharashtra.” Shree Cement’s chair HM Bangur echoed these comments. Similarly, the South Indian Cement Manufacturers' Association (SICMA) described the tax cut as a “particularly impactful move.” It went on to reiterate that the move would reduce construction costs to the benefit of both private builders, public housing and infrastructure projects.

Credit rating agency ICRA’s latest report on the cement sector in India has forecast that operating profit margins are set to rise by 12 - 18% to around US$10.50/t in the 2026 financial year (FY2026). The price of cement in India increased by 7.5% year-on-year from April to August 2025. Despite the current price drop though, an increase of 3 - 5% is anticipated for FY2026 as a whole. Cement sales volumes grew by 8.5% from April to August 2025 and are projected to increase by 6 - 7% to 480 - 485Mt in FY2026. ICRA noted that input prices are expected to remain stable in FY2026. However, it warned that petcoke and freight costs are linked to global crude oil prices and are exposed to global trends. That warning from ICRA is fitting given that one of the reasons the GST has been adjusted is widely interpreted to have been in response to the 50% tariffs that the US imposed upon India at the end of August 2025. The lower GST rates are expected to boost consumption but there are worries that this will come at the expense of reduced tax income and subsequent government spending.

For those unfamiliar with India’s tax system, the GST was introduced in 2017 as a way of simplifying some of the country’s central and state taxes. Broadly, it has been viewed as a success. It should also be noted that the current changes to GST mostly further simplify the tax from four bands to two. Yet, similar to Value Added Tax (VAT) in other countries, consumption taxes can create odd situations through their complexity. Typically this ends up with arguments over the classifications of goods and services for tax purposes. For example, in the UK the company that manufactures Jaffa Cakes infamously challenged the revenue authorities in the 1990s over whether their product should be classified as a biscuit or a cake for tax purposes! As the tax lawyer Dan Neidle joked, “any sufficiently detailed VAT rule is indistinguishable from satire.”

A cut to the price of cement in the world’s second biggest cement market is big news. It may be temporary if the analysts like ICRA are correct and prices carry on mounting. Cement producers - and other businesses along the supply chain - may also decide to withhold the tax cut either now or later on. Meanwhile, factors outside of India such as global fuel prices may exert themselves. For the time being though it’s a good news story.

India: JK Lakshmi Cement has increased its cement production capacity from 16.5Mt/yr to 18Mt/yr following the commissioning of a new grinding unit in Surat and de-bottlenecking of cement mills at Jaykaypuram and Sirohi. According to the company’s filing, the Surat grinding unit adds 1.35Mt/yr.

India: The groundbreaking of UltraTech Cement’s US$42.2m expansion project at its Cuttack plant took place on 15 September 2025 at the project site in Khamar Nuagaon and Kolathpangi village, Athagarh tehsil. The expansion will double the unit’s capacity from 3Mt/yr to 6Mt/yr. Ardhendu Mohapatra, head of Aditya Birla group in Odisha, and Abhinash Rath, plant head of Ultratech Cement Cuttack, were present at the event.

India: The Meghalaya government has confirmed that it has no plans to revive the defunct state-owned Mawmluh Cherra Cements (MCCL) plant and is instead exploring options to transform the site into a tourist attraction. Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar told the Assembly that after years of failed attempts, the state had concluded that MCCL’s revival was no longer feasible. MCCL, originally established as Assam Cement in the 1950s, ceased production in 2020 after mounting losses left it unable to compete with private manufacturers, according to local press. A final attempt in 2022 to secure a joint venture partner also collapsed after three interested firms either withdrew, were disqualified, or declined to proceed. The government has since rolled out a US$11m compensation plan for employees, contractors, suppliers and former workers. The third and final US$3m tranche is reportedly due by 2026 - 2027.

The government is focusing on repurposing the site with revival plans now ruled out. The Sohra area, already a popular tourist destination, is being considered for new projects. Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma previously confirmed that he had been in talks with the Hima of Sohra, a local community group, in August 2023 and that it had ‘expressed enthusiasm’ about working with the government to develop tourism opportunities that would benefit the local economy.

India: Birla Corporation plans to raise its cement production capacity from 20Mt/yr to 27.6Mt/yr by 2028 – 2029 by building grinding units and clinker lines, according to The Pioneer newspaper. Chair Harsh Lodha told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting that the expansion will require a capital expenditure of US$492m.

India: Prism Johnson says that its partner RLJ Cement has completed part of a planned capacity enhancement at the Mirzapur plant in Uttar Pradesh. RLJ Cement has increased its cement production capacity by 0.20Mt/yr to a total of 0.50Mt/yr. Prism Johnson said that the agreement with RLJ is via a non-exclusive supply arrangement, where cement manufactured to Prism Cement’s specifications will be supplied for onward sale.

Following the expansion, Prism Johnson’s outsourced grinding capacity - through supply agreements with multiple units - has increased from 1.17Mt/yr to 1.37Mt/yr. The company said that the Mirzapur plant is now fully operational after the capacity upgrade and forms part of its broader strategy to expand supply tie-ups and scale production to meet rising demand.