Company invests Rs 800 cr in the Kadapa project.
Delhi-based Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited has commenced commercial production at its 2.5 million tonne capacity greenfield cement plant at Chinnakomerla village in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing the media here on Friday, chief executive officer (cement) T Venkatesan said the project was completed in 22 months and would add to its current installed capacity of 3.5 million tonne at Dalmiapuram in Tamil Nadu.
The new plant would produce ordinary portland and portland pozzolana cement varieties. It would cater to Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka markets.
The company has invested about Rs 800 crore in the plant, which also includes the 1,500 acre land at Rs 1.5 lakh an acre. The project has been funded by a mix of internal accruals and debt.
He said a second greenfield project of 2.5 million tonne was on the anvil at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu. With this, Dalmia’s overall capacity would be 8 million tonne per annum.
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The company is also looking to set up three more plants and is scouting for land with limestone deposits in Karnataka, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. On an average, each plant would be set up on 1,000-1,500 acre and involve a total investment of about Rs 2,200 crore, he said.
The group, with a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore, derives 80 per cent of its revenues from the cement segment, 15 per cent from sugar and five per cent from ceramics.
On Dalmia Cement investing in Raghuram Cements, owned by state chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jagan Mohan Reddy, Venkatesan said the decision was backed by business prudence. He, however, declined to comment on why it chose to invest in a cement company which is in competition with it.