Displaying items by tag: India
Police raid fake cement factory in Maharashtra
05 October 2015India: The Madhav Nagar police raided an industrial unit manufacturing fake cement in the industrial area of Dewas Road, Maharashtra and arrested five people working in the unit on 3 October 2015. The accused allegedly filled empty UltraTech Cement bags with ACC cement and then passed it off on the market as original.
The police also seized hundreds of sacks of fake cement kept in the cement plant, a truck and equipment used in the process. According to the Indian National Press Bombay, the accused collected expired cement bags kept in storehouses and thereafter mixed spurious substances with it, then repackaged the bags with logos of a reputed cement company. They then sold it at a reduced price to the public and wholesalers. The police also found thousands of empty sacks of leading cement companies inside the factory premises.
Daniel Fritz resigns from HeidelbergCement India
30 September 2015India: HeidelbergCement India has reported that Daniel R Fritz has tendered his resignation from the position of Director of the company with effect from close of business on 29 September 2015.
Brazilian cement firms pay up over Indian acquisition infringements
30 September 2015India: Brazilian cement major Votarantim Cimentos, InterCement Austria Holding and Camargo Corrêa have settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for alleged violation of takeover protocols regarding Shree Digvijay Cement. They have paid over US$115,000 in settlement charges.
SEBI had initiated adjudication proceedings against the three companies over the violation of provisions Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers (SAST) regulations. It was alleged that the entities failed to comply with certain provisions of the SAST regulations while making an open offer for acquisition of 36.7 million shares, representing a 26% stake in Shree Digvijay Cement.
Everest fibre cement board plant to open in 2016
29 September 2015UAE: Everest Industries of India is set to start production from its first overseas greenfield facility in the UAE in the first quarter of 2016, according to a company statement.
"The facility will be used to manufacture fibre cement boards and cater to our export markets in West Asia and Africa," said Manish Sanghi, Managing Director. Set up at an investment of US$150m, it will be able to produce up to 72,000t/yr of cement fibre boards.
India’s competition authority approves Italcementi purchase
25 September 2015India: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved German firm HeidelbergCement's proposed acquisition of Italcementi SpA in India. The CCI first announced this information in a tweet that said that it had approved of the 'acquisition of Italcementi SPA by Heidelberg Cement AG.'
India: The India Cements Limited has announced that the pending approval of the Scheme of Amalgamation between Trinetra Cement Limited and Trishul Concrete Products Limited with The India Cements Limited and their respective shareholders by the High Court of Judicature at Madras has been extended until 31 December 2015 by the Registrar of Companies.
Indian government to cancel India Cements plant
24 September 2015India: The government has decided to cancel the allotment of a cement plant given to India Cements in Gumma, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
The decision was taken after India Cements expressed its unwillingness to start works, according to local media. "It has been decided to cancel the allotment as the company is no longer keen to set up the plant and they have failed to show any progress in the years since the allotment was made," said Mukesh Agnihotri, industry minister. He added that the government cabinet would need to confirm the allotment cancellation.
Agnihotri said that the government plans to invite global bids for the proposed cement plant in Chamba have been put on hold as Jaiprakash Associates, which had earlier been given the project, has moved to court. The project in Chamba was allotted to Jaiprakash Associates in 2006 and a memorandum of understanding was signed in February 2007 to establish a 2Mt/yr capacity cement plant.
The industry department issued notices to three cement plants in addition to Jaiprakash Associates as to why their plants should not be cancelled, as they had failed to set up facilities that had been approved several years ago. The three cement plants included units by Lafarge in Alsindi, India Cement in Gumma and Harish Cement in Sundernagar. After finding the replies unsatisfactory, the government cancelled the cement plants allotted to Jaiprakash Associates and India Cements. Some of the companies have already invested a lot of money, but could not start operation due to various factors, including clearances from different agencies like the Ministry of Forest and Environment. In some cases, locals have moved to court against the projects, citing loss of agricultural land and an adverse impact on the health of people.
UltraTech Cement commissions grinding plant at Jhajjar, Haryana
22 September 2015India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned a 1.6Mt/yr cement grinding plant at Jhajjar, Haryana.
Jammu Department of Legal Metrology raids Ambuja Cement
18 September 2015India: The Jammu Department of Legal Metrology has registered a case against Ambuja Cement and seized a large quantity of cement bags.
The minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Destruction (CAPD), Choudhary Zulfkar Ali, said that the Department of Legal Metrology had received various complaints about the abuse of Ambuja Cement's dominant position by selling cement at different prices across the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The department said that it could not get a 'satisfactory' response from Ambuja Cement. As a result, a team of officers inspected Ambuja Cement's depot at Kunjwani and booked Ambuja Cement for gross violation of the Legal Metrology Act and Rules. They were also found to be in violation of the Competition Act of 2002 by selling their products deliberately at the predated price to sabotage the local competition. Zulfkar Ali said that, during the inspection, it was found that Ambuja Cement was selling the same batch of Pozolana Portland Cement in different coloured bags marked with different prices for Jammu and Kashmir. The bags were also found to weigh 400 – 600g less than the 50kg label, while mandatory declarations were also not marked as per the provisions of the Packaged Commodity Rules.
A seizure memo has been issued and the cement sales have been stopped until Ambuja Cement provides the reasons for the discrepancies, according to Zulfkar Ali.
UltraTech Cement to expand Maharashtra cement plant
18 September 2015India: 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.