Aditya Birla Grp in race for Jaffna plant

Ultratech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, has decided to throw its hat in the ring to acquire the five lakh tonne Kankesanthurai cement plant in Jaffna that has been closed for more than 17 years.

"The Aditya Birla group will put forward a proposal to acquire the plant and efforts are on in this direction. But no decision has been taken by the Sri Lankan government", a top official told PTI.

A delegation from the company was scheduled to meet government officials and plant representatives to chalk out the details over the management of the plant in the troubled northern Sri Lanka region.

Holcim and Tokyo Cement have also been said to be eyeing the plant, but they have been deterred by the unrest in the region.

The Kankesanthurai plant, one of the first plants to be built in the island country, is located near rich limestone deposits in the Jaffna peninsula, devastated by hostilities between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and government forces.

Shares of state-controlled Lanka Cement rose 19 per cent last week, on speculation that the Birla group was interested in the Kankesanthurai plant.

According to reports, Lanka Cement was awaiting clarification on the intentions of the Birla group from the government.

One of the proposals was to hand over the cement factory to the Indian corporate giant on lease and allow it to run the plant on a build, operate and transfer basis after it is renovated.

It is said that shipping cement to Tamil Nadu from Jaffna would be cheaper than transporting it from plants elsewhere in India.