Maihar Cement to invest Rs 120 crore

BK Birla-promoted Maihar Cement Ltd, a division of Century Textiles and Industries Ltd, has chalked out a plan to invest Rs 120 crore to enhance its cement production capacity of its Satna units by setting up a coal-based thermal power plant.

The company has been given state government clearance on tax concessions, etc. in accordance with the industry policy. The company has two units of cement in Satna with a 1-million-tonne capacity each.

The company had asked for concessions on entry tax, electricity duty and cess, saying that it would generate 100 direct jobs and 500 indirect jobs through the investment and thereby pay an amount of Rs 37.31 crore as various taxes to the state exchequer.

The company will set up a 15-Mw power plant to meet the power demand for capacity enhancement from 1 million tonnes to 1.8 million tonnes of its Satna unit.

The power plant is expected to be commissioned during the first half of 2006-07. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd last year had bagged orders for the supplying of power plant equipment from the company by beating a Japanese and a French supplier.

The order envisaged design, engineering, manufacture, supply, erection and commissioning of a 15.7 Mw steam turbine generator set with associated auxiliaries for the captive power plant at their cement plant in Madhya Pradesh, BHEL had said.

"The company has received clearance from the state government through Apex Committee on Investment Promotion for a some tax concession like entry tax etc. and necessary permission to set up the power plant. The concessions have been given in accordance with Industrial Promotion Policy," a top government official informed Business Standard.

The company has two units in Satna that manufactures Portland cement. It also has a 1180 hectares of mining leased adjacent to Bhadnapur area.

Maihar Cement Unit No.2 has bagged first prize for Lowest Electrical energy (kwh) consumption per ton of Clinker produced as well as for cement in the Fifth, sixth and seven State level FL Smidth Energy Awards (earlier known as Fuller Energy Award) consecutively for the years 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 respectively. The prizes are sponsored by Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh Cement Industries.

The company processes suits, shirts, and dress materials. The processing units concentrate on dyeing, bleaching, and sizing.

But now, their activities cover areas like embroidery for value addition.

In 2004-05, the turnover of the company was Rs 40 crore, and in this financial year, it expects Rs 50 crore. Talking to Business Standard, Managing Director Vineet Aggarwal said, "The new unit will be spread over 3 acres, and work has started.

It will be a state-of-the-art plant, and we are importing two embroidery machines from Switzerland for the new unit and processing machines from Surat. "Once the new unit is operational, we are expecting a two-fold increase in turnover," he added.

"We are infusing Rs 1.5 crore to enhance the production capacity of the existing units, whose current capacity is 700,000-800,000 metres a month.

After the infusion, there will be a 25 per cent increase in capacity," Aggarwal said.

"With 125 dealers in the northern region, the company has a strong presence in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh," he said, adding, "the firm is planning to double its dealer network."

Citing the main reasons behind the downfall of processing houses in Amritsar (in 1990, there were more than 100 but now only 13), Aggarwal said the processing houses did not do enough technological upgrade, and there had been mismanagement and overproduction. Besides, the apathy of the state and central governments is also responsible.