India: Dalmia Bharat plans to expand its footprint in Central, Northern and Western India through capital expenditure investments, in order to reach a pan-India cement capacity of 54Mt/yr by the end of the 2024 financial year on 31 March 2024. This corresponds to year-on-year growth of 38% from 39Mt/yr at the start of April 2023. The Hindu BusinessLine newspaper has reported that the expansion aims to reduce Dalmia Bharat’s reliance on its native South, East and North East regions. The cement producer will fund the growth through allocations of its capital to its core business. At the same time, it plans to divest non-core assets, including its 15% stake in trading platform India Energy Exchange.
Dalmia Bharat expects growth in Indian cement demand to outstrip national GDP growth in the 2024 financial year. It has a medium-term expansion plan to grow its cement capacity to 92% to 75Mt/yr by the end of the 2027 financial year.