Birla Corp defends deal to buy Reliance Infra's cement biz

M P Birla group flagship Birla Corporation today strongly defended the Rs 4,800 crore deal to buy Reliance Infrastructure's cement business, saying the sector's outlook is good with demand pull seen in near future.
Replying to shareholders' concerns at the company's AGM here today, Birla Corporation Chairman Harsh Lodha said that R-Infra's cement business was a good fit for the company.
This was the reason why Birla Corporation had decided to acquire the assets of R-Infra, Lodha said, adding that the acquisition process is on.
The acquisition is subject to all the statutory approvals, he added.
Stating that Birla Corp was an efficient producer of cement, Lodha said that there was still scope for improvement and Reliance would add to that.

Birla Corp, Lodha said, was predominantly a cement manufacturing company with presence in the north, east and the central region.

"The acquisition will help stepping up the presence of Birla Corporation and total capacity post the completion of the deal will be 15.5 mtpa," he said, adding that the long- term future of the cement industry is good and there would also be a demand pull in the near future.
Regarding the jute business, he said that efforts were being made to de-risk it from mandatory packaging orders.
The company would also close down one of its subsidiaries, Birla Cement Assam.