Displaying items by tag: Jaypee Group

India: ICICI Bank has asked the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) to speed up an insolvency petition against Jaiprakash Associates. It said that there had been no progress on the plea since September 2019, according to the Hindu newspaper. The private bank alleges that the subsidiary of Jaypee Group has delayed the petition through adjournments of the process. It owes the bank around US$185m.

Jaiprakash Associates sold six integrated cement plants and five grinding plants to UltraTech Cement for US$2.5bn in 2017. It was reportedly in talks with LafargeHolcim’s subsidiary ACC in mid-2018 to sell its remaining cement business.

India: UltraTech Cement’s net sales rose by 20% year-on-year to US$5.24bn in its 2019 financial year from US$4.35bn in the 2018 reporting period. Its profit after tax grew by 10% to US$347m from US$317m. Its power and fuel costs increased by 33% to US$1.20bn from US$903m.

The cement producer said that production stabilised at its integrated plant in Manavar, Madhya Pradesh, reaching a clinker production capacity utilisation rate of 100% in the quarter that ended on 31 March 2019. It worked on the plants of its UltraTech Nathdwara Cement subsidiary to reach a production utilisation rate of 72% in March 2019. Both plants were acquired from Binani Cement in late 2018.

The plants it acquired from Jaypee Associates in 2017 are running at a capacity utilisation rate of 82%. A planned shutdown was undertaken at its Bela plant in Madhya Pradesh plant for cost improvements. The company intends to install waste heat recovery (WHR) units at these plants. Work on the 4Mt/yr Bara grinding unit is on track and the first phase of the expansion is expected to be commissioned during the first quarter of its 2020 financial year.

India: The Ministry of Coal has cancelled Jaypee Cement’s coal block at Mandla in Madhya Pradesh citing breach of agreement. In a letter the ministry said that the cement producer was ‘not serious about the development of the coal mine,’ according to the Business Standard newspaper. The ministry has accused Jaypee Cement of switching the plant using coal from the mine without permission and of exceeding the agreed output.

The Mandla coal mine was allocated to Jaypee Cement in March 2015 after a bidding process. At first it supplied Jaypee’s Balaji cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. However, production from the mine switched to the Shahabad cement plant in June 2017 following the acquisition of the Balaji plant by UltraTech Cement.

Nepal: The Nepal Electricity Authority and the Independent Power Producers' Association Nepal say that the new hydroelectric projects are stalling due to a lack of imported cement. The shortage has been caused by new standards set by the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology (NBSM) for imported cement, according to the Himalayan Times. The NBSM made Nepal Standard certification mandatory for imported cement in July 2017. Foreign producers supplying cement to Nepal, principally from India, have to follow quality, packaging and labelling criteria fixed by the NBSM.

Jaypee Cement and Star Cement have received approval from the NBSM to supply cement to the country following the new standard. Three more Indian cement producers have also submitted applications.

India: Jaypee Cement is seeking approval from the Ministry of Coal to return two captive coal blocks, which it previously won by auction in 2015. The company has told the ministry that it does not require the coal blocks as it has sold off the attached cement plants, a ministry official told the Economic Times newspaper. The official added that Jaypee Cement could be barred from bidding for other coal blocks for one year and that bank guarantees equivalent to a year’s revenue from the mines could be seized. The two blocks are Majra in Maharashtra and Mandla South in Madhya Pradesh.

Orient Cement agreed to purchase three cement plants from Jaiprakash Associates for US$292m in early October 2016.

India: The Competition Commission of India has approved the proposed acquisition by UltraTech Cement of selected cement assets from Jaiprakash Associates and its associated company Jaypee Cement. The deal concerns 21.2Mt/yr of cement production capacity at a cost of US$2.47bn. The transaction is expected to complete in early to mid 2017.

India: UltraTech Cement and Jaiprakash Associates have revised their deal for UltraTech to buy 21.2Mt/yr of cement production capacity from Jaiprakash Associates. The revised value of the deal is now US$2.47bn, up from US$2.40 agreed previously. UltraTech will have to pay an additional US$70m upon completion of a grinding unit under construction. The new agreement is an amendment to the 31 March 2016 scheme of arrangement., according to the Hindu newspaper.

The approval follows an agreement of Jaiprakash Associates’ lenders who invoked Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) scheme on 28 June 2016. This allowed the lenders may take control of the company and sell its assets to recover dues.

“Jaypee Group is determined to reduce its overall debt through its proactive divestment initiatives to help the group tide these current turbulent times caused by the economic slowdown,” said Manoj Gaur, Executive Chairman, Jaypee Group. The company has put together a committee of directors to explore its options to tackle its debt management.

India: Jaypee Group companies have defaulted on loans and other payments worth US$666m. The group has, on a consolidated basis failed to repay US$434m in principal amount to banks and another US$233m in interest payments.

Jaiprakash Associates, the group's main company, reported a loss of US$500m in its 2015 – 2016 financial year, compared to US$259m in the same period in the previous year. Earlier in 2016, Jaiprakash Associates agreed a deal to sell cement plants in five states to UltraTech Cement for US$2.4bn. Once the deal concludes Jaiprakash Associates will be left with a cement production capacity of 10.6Mt/yr in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

India: Jaiprakash Associates has withdrawn from some of its markets in north India as part of a streamlining its operations. A spokesperson for the parent Jaypee Group confirmed that the company has chosen to withdraw from certain markets in Haryana and Delhi, according to Livemint.

"The company continues to sell cement in markets of north India. However, as a strategy the company has increased its focus on high realisation markets and has withdrawn from certain markets of Haryana and Delhi where due to low prices and high freights (long lead markets) the net realisation was very low and operations unviable," said a spokesman for Jaypee Group.

Non-payment to truck drivers and coal shortages at its cement plants in Himachal Pradesh are believed to have contributed to the decision to exit the north Indian market. Jaiprakash Associates has a cement production capacity of 4Mt/yr in Himachal Pradesh.

In late March 2016 Jaiprakash Associates signed an agreement with UltraTech Cement to sell 21.2Mt/yr of cement assets in five states for US$2.4bn. Following the deal Jaypee Group will be left with 10Mt/yr in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

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.