Displaying items by tag: Bihar

India: Dalmia Bharat has announced a planned investment of US$10.9m in a grinding unit expansion at its 1Mt/yr Banjari cement plant in Bihar. The expansion will raise the plant’s capacity by 500,000t/yr and conclude before 31 March 2025.

India: A worker had been killed and two others seriously injured at a fire that broke out at Dalmia Cement’s Banjari cement plant on 1 September 2023. The staff were reportedly cleaning the kiln at the unit in Bihar when the incident took place, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper. The name of the dead worker has been confirmed as Sanjiv Kumar Singh.

India: UltraTech Cement has commissioned an upgrade to its grinding plant at Patliputra in Bihar. The 2.2Mt/yr upgrade brings the total capacity of the unit to 4.7Mt/yr. The cement producer will use the additional capacity to serve market demand in the east region of the country. It has a total national cement production capacity of 129Mt/yr.

India: Shree Cement has commissioned captive solar power plants with a total capacity of 40MW in Bihar and Jharkhand. A Shree Cement facility in Banka, Bihar, hosts a 30MW solar power installation, while another in Seraikela Kharsawan, Jharkhand hosts a 10MW installation. Press Trust India News has reported that Oriana Clean Energy carried out design, engineering, procurement and construction on both projects.

Nepal: Udayapur Cement has urged the Nepalese government's Ministry of Finance to process its application for a loan of US$3.82m. The Kathmandu Post newspaper has reported that the producer plans to invest in an upgrade to its 800t/day-capacity Gaighat cement plant in Province No.1. The plant is reportedly unable to meet its capacity due to frequent issues with its 33-year-old equipment. The producer hopes that an upgrade will increase the plant's production capacity by 41% to 2.5m bags/yr. It also expects its expenditure on coal to fall by 25% as a result.

Director general Gopi Neupane noted the Gaighat cement plant's access to high quality limestone not available elsewhere in the country. He said "We will turn the factory into a profit-making enterprise if the additional investment is provided. We have huge scope for exporting cement to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (in India)."

India: Prism Cement, part of Prism Johnson, has signed supply agreements with three cement producers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Mayflex Cement Industries, RLJ Infracement and Rockhill Hi-Tech Cement will supply the cement producer and distributor with cement from their respective grinding plants, which have a total capacity of 820,000t/yr. Prism Cement said that the agreements will help it to improve local availability in the strategic markets of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Bihar contributed 19% of Prism Johnson's cement sales by volume in the 2022 financial year, and Uttar Pradesh 55%.

Mayflex Cement Industries reportedly commissioned its new 300,000t/yr Faizabad grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh earlier in 2022.

India: Birla Corporation plans to increase its cement production capacity to 30Mt/yr in 2030 from 20Mt/yr at present. It made the proclamation in its annual report for the 2021 – 2022 financial year. Recent developments include the inauguration of its 3.9Mt/yr integrated plant at Mukutban in Maharashtra, run under its RCCPL subsidiary. It is the group’s fourth integrated plant and is reportedly the largest single cement production line in the state. The unit also includes a 40MW captive power plant.

Other developments include plans to expand the capacity of its Kundanganj grinding plant in Uttar Pradesh to 3Mt/yr from 2Mt/yr and a plan to build a new 1.2Mt/yr grinding plant at Gaya in Bihar. The group is also increasing production from its captive coal mines. Output from the Sial Ghoghri coal mine has been increased by 20% above its rated capacity to 30,000t/month. Development of the Bikram coal mine has been advanced and production is expected to start in mid-2023. Finally, the group is adding 8MW of solar power capacity at its Chanderia, Satna and Kundanganj plants in the current financial year and a 10.6MW waste heat recovery (WHR) unit is planned for the Mukutban plant.

India: Star Cement plans to invest US$129m to establish a new 3Mt/yr clinker line. BusinessLine Online News has reported that producer currently operates 2.8Mt/yr-worth of clinker capacity across two units in Meghalaya. Star Cement says that it plans to increase its presence in the Northeast India, Bihar and West Bengal markets. It will additionally invest US$90 – 103m to establish two new grinding units with a combined capacity of 4Mt/yr at Guwahati and Silchar in Assam.

Star Cement said that projected infrastructure investment growth in Northeast India inspired its investment decision, while it opted for a 3Mt/yr kiln over a 2Mt/yr alternative due to the improved efficiencies it offers.

India: Dalmia Bharat subsidiary Dalmia Cement plans to increase its installed cement production capacity in Eastern India by a further 4.8Mt/yr. The Economic Times newspaper has reported that its remaining planned upgrades in the region consist of a 2.3Mt/yr capacity expansion at a grinding plant in Odisha and a 2.5Mt/yr capacity expansion at a grinding plant in Bihar. The Odisha upgrade is scheduled for commissioning in mid-2021 and the Bihar upgrade is scheduled for commissioning in 2023. When both completed, the new lines will increase the producer’s cement capacity to 40Mt/yr.

The company says that it plans to announce further capital expenditure (capex) investments. It said that its subsidiary Murli Industries requires US$47.7 - 54.5m-worth of capex spending. It acquired the company, based in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, in the 2021 financial year. Managing director Puneet Dalmia said that the company would wait for greater economic certainty before launching the next round of expenditure. He said that the company’s aim is to become a national producer.

India: Star Cement has announced the completion of its US$61m grinding plant project in Jalpaiguri, West Bengal. The Press Trust of India has reported that the 2Mt/yr grinding plant is set to enter production shortly. This will bring the company’s installed capacity to 6.3Mt/yr. The company intends to source clinker from its integrated cement plant in Meghalaya that has mines nearby. Fly ash will be procured from West Bengal or Bihar.

Star Cement plans to discontinue its lease of another grinding plant in Siliguri, West Bengal, at the end of January 2021.