Displaying items by tag: India

Nigeria: Dangote Cement has appointed Arvind Pathak as its Group Managing Director with effect from 1 March 2023. He will succeed Michel Puchercos, who has been in the post for three years.

Pathak holds over 30 years of experience in the cement sector. He previously worked as the managing director and chief executive officer of Birla Corporation in India. Prior to this he held two positions with Dangote Cement as Dy Group Managing Director and Group Chief Operating Officer respectively. He has also worked for Adani Enterprises and Reliance Cement. He holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi and a post graduate qualification in business administration and management from the National Institute of Industrial Engineering.

India: Sagar Cements recorded consolidated sales of US$197m during the first nine months of the 2023 Indian financial year, more than four times the US$44.6m that it recorded during the corresponding period of the 2022 financial year. Costs rose sharply during the period. Raw materials accounted for 45% of total costs. The producer spent US$32.1m on raw materials, up by more than a factor of four from US$6.54m. Sagar Cements made a nine-month net loss of US$11m, compared to a US$6.07m profit during the first nine months of the 2022 financial year.

India: The India Cements will pay each of its 500 cement plant workers an additional US$736/yr, effective retroactively from the start of the 2023 Indian financial year on 1 April 2022. This will subsequently rise by up to another US$736/yr from the start of the 2026 financial year. The Hindu BusinessLine News has reported that the move is the result of talks with workers' unions. The India Cements additionally agreed to pay a total US$202,000/yr in premiums on medical insurance policies for all cement plant employees.

The India Cements operates 10 cement facilities in India.

India: UltraTech Cement recorded sales of US$1.91bn during the third quarter of the 2023 Indian financial year, up by 20% year-on-year from third-quarter 2022 financial year levels. The Aditya Birla subsidiary's cement sales during the quarter grew by 13% year-on-year in volume. It recorded 24% growth in costs, to US$1.74bn, while its profit fell by 38% to US$131m.

UltraTech Cement noted growth in the cost of electricity, fuels and raw materials.

India: The Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (HPSPCB) issued a show cause notice to UltraTech Cement's Baga cement plant in Himachal Pradesh's Solan District on 18 January 2023. The Hindustan Times has reported that stack emissions monitoring at the plant recorded a breach during 2022.

UltraTech Cement now has 15 days in which to respond to the show cause notice.

India: Sagar Cements has won the auction to acquire Andhra Cements from Jaiprakash Associates (Jaypee Group), a company currently undergoing an insolvency process. The committee of creditors of Andhra Cements voted to approve the sale, although the amount of the bid has not been disclosed, according to the Press Trust of India. Dalmia Cement (Bharat) was also reportedly made a bid for the cement producer.

Andhra Cements operates an integrated plant at Durga and a grinding plant at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It was previously acquired by Jaypee Group in 2012 from Duncan Goenka Group.

India: NCL Industries produced 713,000t of cement in October – December 2022, the third quarter of the 2023 financial year. The figure corresponds to a rise of 27% year-on-year from 561,000t in the corresponding quarter of the 2022 financial year. NCL Industries produced 19,300t of cement boards throughout the quarter, down by 3% year-on-year from 19,900t.

India: Operators of limestone mines in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar District have suspended quarry operations indefinitely in protest against the Karnataka state government's increased licensing royalties and rules requiring drone surveillance. The companies also demand that the state government cease to implement new policies affecting them. The Times of India newspaper has reported that the strike has impacted a total of 10,000 jobs, both at quarries and downstream in the building materials and construction sectors.

India: The government of Telangana has asked the Indian government for US$612m in funding for the planned reopening of state-owned Cement Corporation of India's Adilabad cement plant, alongside other projects. The Indian government will publish its 2023 - 2024 Union Budget in January 2023. The Times of India newspaper has reported that funding has been insufficient for the Telangana state government to realise its industrial growth plans over eight successive previous budgets.

India: Shree Cement has commissioned captive solar power plants with a total capacity of 40MW in Bihar and Jharkhand. A Shree Cement facility in Banka, Bihar, hosts a 30MW solar power installation, while another in Seraikela Kharsawan, Jharkhand hosts a 10MW installation. Press Trust India News has reported that Oriana Clean Energy carried out design, engineering, procurement and construction on both projects.