Sanghi Industries homes in on Satna

Sanghi Industries Ltd will set up a cement plant and a captive power plant in Satna. The company has identified two locations""Satna and Neemuch""for limestone mining.

The investment in the cement plant will be Rs 1,000 crore. And the captive power plant will be a 60 Mw one. In an investors' meet organised here, the MP government highlighted the proposed investment.

The talks, which company initiated with the state government last year, now have reached an advanced stage.

The installed capacity of the project will be 3 million tonnes per annum, which is almost equal to that of the Kutch plant of the company. The company wants limestone and coal mines, and sales tax and other exemptions from the MP government. The firm had shown interest in the Satna belt, where there are abundant limestone deposits.

A company called Phenix has carried out investigations there but after detailed exploration they abandoned the mines.

"They have requested the state government to make a copy of the report of investigation carried out by Phenix from the department of mines and geology," a government source told Business Standard.

Reportedly, Steel Authority of India Ltd has acquired about 2,000 hectares of limestone-bearing area in the Satna belt and the deposits have not been utilised.

"Though the company prefers to have these deposits transferred to it, it may go for a joint venture partner to set up the project. "They have requested the state government to take up the matter with SAIL," said the source.

The firm needs 600 million tonnes of limestone and 100 million tonnes of non-coking coal for captive use in the proposed cement and thermal captive plants.

It is also interested in Mandla (North) and Sialaghoghri, for which the Union government has sought private partnership. "The firm has requested Madhya Pradesh government to recommend its case to government of India," the source added.

The Dongrital (1&2) and Mahan Mara mines in Sidhi are also other options for the company.

The non-coking coal blocks of Northern Coalfields Limited, according to the company, are unexplored and were allotted to state Mining Corporation. The company has evinced interest in working with the corporation in this area.

The firm has asked for 2,000 acres of government wasteland adjoining the proposed limestone deposits at Satna or Neemuch, exemption from electricity duty on captive power plant for 15 years, permission to draw 10,000 cubic metres of water per day from a nearby river, 100 per cent exemption on payment of sales tax/value-added tax or grant of equivalent subsidy for a period of 14 years on cement sales, 100 per cent tax exemption from stamp duty and registration charges, 100 per cent exemption from octoroi from machinery, 100 per cent exemption from payment of royalty on limestone or coal or any other mineral extracted and used from Madhya Pradesh for the above project and equity participation from state bodies like the Madhya Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation.

The empowered apex committee on investment would consider the concessions and sops for proposed plant, said the source.