Displaying items by tag: India
India: Two cement plants in Himachal Pradesh have been accused of evading goods tax worth US$9m, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said. The Ambuja integrated cement plant at Darlaghat and the JP Cement Himachal grinding plant at Bagha allegedly avoided the tax.
The companies transported 1.7Mt of limestone and 0.21Mt of shale from their quarries between April 2012 and March 2014. Ambuja Cement and JP Cement were liable to pay US$5.1m and US$3.9m respectively. The CAG only became aware of the shortfall in December 2015.
Ratings agency says LafargeHolcim to benefit from Indian infrastructure spending growth
12 April 2016India: Government plans to increase spending on infrastructure projects will benefit LafargeHolcim according to Moody's Investor Service. The second largest cement producer in India will gain from uneven regional demand, with a much larger scale and more prominent operations in northern India, where it sells almost 42% of its local cement volume.
LafargeHolcim and other European cement manufacturers with a presence in India are likely to benefit if the Indian government's plans to ramp up infrastructure spending happen in the next 12 to 18 months. The 2016 Union Budget contained plans to hike public infrastructure spending, especially on roads, which could revive stagnant cement demand in the country.
According to the government's 12th Five Year Plan (2012 - 17) investment in infrastructure should increase from 7.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014 to 9% in 2017. However, cement demand for government-funded projects has been weak in the last four years with many construction schemes delayed or put on hold. As a result, while infrastructure investment will be a key growth driver, the timing of such investment remains uncertain.
However, Moody’s also noted that European multinational cement producers based in the south of the country with limited geographical spread would be more exposed to local overcapacity in this region. This included HeidelbergCement, Italcementi and CRH.
India: Jaiprakash Associates has revised a US$2.4bn deal to sell cement plants to and UltraTech Cement. The new deal excludes a 1.2Mt/yr cement plant in Karnataka. UltraTech will also spend US$71m to complete a cement grinding plant that is currently being built. UltraTech will now acquire Jaiprakash Associates cement plants in five states with total capacity of 21.2Mt/yr. Jaiprakash Associates will retain a cement capacity of 10.6Mt/yr.
A Memorandum of Understanding signed in February 2016 agreed the terms of the sale. However, currency fluctuations between the Indian Rupee and US Dollar have kept the US Dollar value of the revised deal at a similar amount despite a drop in the Indian Rupee amount. The sale is expected to take around 12 to 14 months to complete subject to statutory and regulatory approvals.
India: OCL India has inaugurated a 5.5MW solar power plant for use by its cement grinding plant in Salboni, Bengal. The 1.35Mt/yr grinding plant was set up in 2014 with an investment of US$93m.
"Our plant at Paschim Medinipore is located strategically to ensure timely and faster delivery of cement across the state. West Bengal is an emerging market for infrastructure development with a host of projects under implementation and thereby auguring well for the cement industry in Eastern India. In our first year of operations in Medinipore we are already operating at 95% capacity utilisation," said Amandeep, director and CEO of OCL India. He added that the solar plant will be the first and largest of its kind in West Bengal
OCL India also operates two cement plants at Kapilash and Rajgangpur in Orissa with a combined production capacity of 5.35Mt/yr.
Dalmia Bharat consolidates operations in east India
30 March 2016India: Dalmia Bharat has merged OCL India Limited and Dalmia Cement East Limited ‘Bokaro’ with Odisha Cement Limited. The resulting company will be called OCL India Limited. It has also amalgamated Adhunik Cement with Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited (DCBL) and transferred the power assets in Dalmia Cement Bharat Power Ventures Limited to DCBL.
In a statement the Indian cement producer added that the move would simplify its corporate structure leading to significant unrealised benefits. It added that following the consolidation OCL will become the largest Portland slag cement producer in India.
In early March 2016 Dalmia Bharat received approval from the Competition Commission of India to acquire a 15% stake in its subsidiary Dalmia Cement Bharat from private equity firm KKR for over US$181m in a cash and stock deal. After the purchase, Dalmia Cement Bharat became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat.
Dalmia Bharat runs cement and power businesses. The group has a presence in southern and eastern India, including the northeast. Dalmia Bharat has a cement production capacity of 25Mt/yr.
India: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved Anjani Portland Cement for a rights issue to raise US$11.3m. The proceeds from the offering will be used to build a 16MW coal-based captive power plant at one of the company's cement plants.
SEBI received draft documents for the rights issue on 30 December 2015 and issued its 'observations' on 23 March 2016. Issuance of 'observations' by SEBI is considered as a clearance to the issuer to go ahead with the share issues.
Shree Cement prepares for 10Mt/yr expansion project
30 March 2016India: Shree Cement has set aside US$905m to build three new integrated cement plants with a production capacity of 10Mt/yr. The first new plant in the line will have a production capacity of 3Mt/yr and will be situated in Baloda Bazar, Chhattisgarh. The Indian cement producer successfully bid for limestone deposits in Baloda Bazar in February 2016. The new plant will be announced by July 2016, according to the Business Standard newspaper.
“We will be bidding in at least 12 more limestone auctions and hope to win three to four of these. This will help us set up plants to increase our capacity,” said the Managing Director of Shree Cement, H M Bangur.
At present Shree Cement has a cement production capacity of 23.6Mt/yr from three clinker plants and six cement grinding plants in the states of Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Chhattisgarh. The expansion plans will be funded by the company’s internal accruals.
India: McNally Bharat Engineering Company has decided to merge itself, its subsidiary McNally Sayaji Engineering and EMC with Kilburn Engineering. Its board of directors will now value the companies to determine the share exchange ratio and draft the scheme of amalgamation, according to Accord Fintech.
McNally Bharat Engineering Company is an engineering company providing turnkey solutions across many industries including cement, material handling, mineral beneficiation, pyroprocessing, power, steel and others. Its subsidiary McNally Sayaji Engineering focuses on crushing and raw mineral processing.
India: Burnpur Cement has signed an agreement with Saurabh Ganguly as a brand ambassador for the company for three years from 11 March 2016. Ganguly was the former captain of the Indian cricket team. As the brand ambassador for the company he will endorse the product and brand of the cement producer to help increase of sales.
India: Opposition politicians in Meghalaya have warned the state government over management concerns regarding the Mawmluh Cherra Cement plant. The state owned cement plant stopped production in mid-2014. The local government has since announced that it intends to loan the company US$12m towards paying off bills from an upgrade project started in 2005 including loan payments, power bills and salary costs, according to the Indian Telegraph. After upgrades are completed the plant will have a cement production capacity of 600t/day.
"I know in the past the government used to appoint Tom, Dick and Harry to manage the MCCL. However, if we want the factory and other public sector units of the state to be free from ailments, we need a strong management and run it professionally," said former state chief minister Donkupar Roy at the state assembly. He also demanded that the head office of the factory be moved to Sohra.