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Indian Cement news

Adani Group to acquire Holcim India

India: Holcim has agreed to sell its Indian business to industry, energy and ports conglomerate Adani Group for US$6.37bn. The assets consist of a 63% stake in Ambuja Cement, which in turn owns 50% of ACC, and a 4.5% direct stake in ACC.

ACC and Ambuja Cement employ 10,700 people and operate 31 cement plants in India. The deal will make Adani Group India’s second-largest cement producer.

Chair Gautam Adani said “With Holcim’s global leadership in sustainability, we are acquiring some of the most efficient building materials operations in India, powered with clean technologies like heat recovery systems. We recognise that Ambuja and ACC operations are energy intensive and therefore, when combined with our renewable power generation capabilities, we gain a big head start in the decarbonisation journey that is a must for Indian industry.”

Holcim says that its focus is now on expanding its solutions and products business. Reuters News has reported that the group plans to put the proceeds of the assets’ sale towards lower-carbon acquisitions. Its Indian operations contributed 26% of group CO2 emissions.

CEO Jan Jenisch said “We will always make cement, but we will decarbonise cement.” He added “We are happy to build up other segments like building solutions and products

Udaipur Cement Works Ltd wins the Greentech sustainability Award 2021

Udaipur Cement Works Ltd (UCWL), a subsidiary of JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd, has won the Greentech Sustainability Award 2021 under the ‘Excellence in Affordable & Clean Energy’ category.

The company won the award after increasing the share of its renewable energy by more than 50 per cent in the total power mix. UCWL prioritised solar and WHR-based power plants over any short-term gains that might have developed from installing a captive thermal power plant.

The Whole-Time Director of the company, Mr Naveen Kumar Sharma, gave credit to Team UCWL for its collective and sustainable efforts.

India : CM to inaugurate Dalmia Cement plant in Bokaro

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, is making significant investments in Jharkhand and is thereby further strengthening its commitment to nation building. With a company philosophy of inclusive development and growth, the company has also partnered with 16 villages and six Gram Panchayats in Bokaro to drive its numerous social and climate action initiatives that are positively impacting 20,000 lives across the state.

In line with the recently signed MOU with the Government of Jharkhand, the overall investment will be to the tune of Rs 758 crore. This includes setting up a grinding unit in Bokaro with an investment of INR 567 crore to add capacity of 2.6 MTPA which will take the overall capacity of the unit to 6.3 MTPA. Furthering the company’s sustainability objectives of reducing the carbon footprint, the investment also includes INR 250 crore to establish a solar power plant and INR 8 crore to set up Material Recover Facility and Legacy waste-Bio Mining activity for solid waste management under Ranchi Municipal Corporation.

While the company is gearing up for the imminent launch of its Bokaro plant, to be inaugurated by Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren on 6 December, it is also addressing some pressing environmental and social challenges such as climate action, livelihood generation, job skill training and social development.

Commenting on the company’s commitment to nation building through its investment in Jharkhand, Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director, Dalmia Bharat Limited, said, “As we are further investing in the East market to participate in its economic growth story, we are also taking our responsibility as a corporate seriously by placing the utmost importance to environmental protection and social impact. We are confident that the employment generated through our investments and the skill enhancement in our social initiatives will help create a progressive ecosystem where we help people become independent and self-sufficient. We are excited and look forward to partnering with the state to achieve our business, social and sustainability goals.”

Commenting on the Bokaro investment and community initiatives, Mahendra Singhi, MD and CEO of Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Ltd. said, “Our continued industrial and social endeavors in Jharkhand is seeing fruition with the continuous support from the Government and Bokaro community. We are grateful and will continue to contribute to India’s growth story with our environment-friendly infrastructure, clean energy and water initiatives as well as CSR efforts. He further added, “On the business front, the commissioning of the Bokaro unit in the region is a key milestone as the company has embarked on a larger journey of increasing its cement manufacturing capacity from 33 million tonnes currently to reaching 48.5million tonnes by 2024.”

It is noteworthy that under COVID Prevention and Vaccination Initiatives by contributing of Rs. 60 lakh to the CM Relief fund to help in Covid prevention and organized a Vaccination drive for communities and employees consequently Bokaro Dalmia unit is 100 per cent vaccinated unit. Also under CSR ownerships through its rainwater harvesting initiatives, Dalmia Bharat Ltd. helps enhance the capacity of 13 existing village ponds and conserved 1.72 Cr K litres of water annually. The company made dried wells usable through desalting, raised ground water level up by almost 100 percent and constructed check dams. This has benefitted almost 11,000 people.

India: Accident in Ambuja Cements’ factory: 2 labourers dead, several feared trapped

An accident has been reported at the Ambuja Cements’ factory in Rajasthan’s city, Mundwa. Very disturbing visuals have been coming in, showing laborers trapped under debris. Reportedly 2 workers have been crushed to death and 4-5 workers are still trapped under debris. The accident happened when a crane’s hook broke. The crane was carrying a heavy load under which some labourers got crushed. Rescue operation is underway and till now only 2 dead bodies have been recovered. It is being speculated that a few alive workers might be trapped under the debris and efforts are being made to rescue them.

Board of Shree Cement approves setting up integrated cement plant and solar power plants

The Board of Shree Cement has approved setting up of an Integrated Cement Plant at Village Gothra in Nawalgarh Tehsil of Rajasthan and Solar Power Plants at various locations to meet the captive requirement of the Cement Plants of the Company.

The company’s existing cement capacity is 43.40 million ton per annum (MTPA). During the year 2020-21, the utilization rate was 67%. The proposed integrated cement plant will have a clinker capacity of 3.8 MTPA and cement capacity of up to 3.5 MTPA.

The expected capex for the project is Rs 3500 crore. The proposed capacity will be added by quarter ending March 2024.
The company proposes to set up solar power plants having capacity upto 106 MWp to meet captive power requirements of cement plants of the company at various locations. The expected capex for the project is Rs 500 crore. The proposed capacity will be added by quarter ending September 2022.

Dalmia Bharat to invest Rs 758 cr in Jharkhand

Dalmia Bharat said its subsidiary, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), signed three memorandum of understandings with the government of Jharkhand to invest Rs 758 crore in the state.

Dalmia Cement will invest Rs 500 crore in its manufacturing unit at Jharkhand Industrial Area Development Authority Bokaro. In addition to expanding its existing capacity of 3.7 mnt through debottlenecking, the company plans to set up a new grinding unit, taking the overall cement manufacturing capacity at Bokaro to 6.3mtpa.

The company has signed a pact with the government of Jharkhand to set up a solar power plant to provide clean energy to the state. It will further invest Rs 250 crore for establishing the solar power plant. Besides this, another MoU was signed for solid waste management wherein the company will invest Rs 8 crore for setting up material recover facility and legacy waste-bio mining activity for solid waste management under Ranchi Municipal Corporation.

Earlier this month, Dalmia Bharat had unveiled a long-term plan to grow its cement capacity in the country. It plans to raise its cement manufacturing capacity to 110-130 million tonnes per annum by 2031, which would be done through a mix of organic & inorganic opportunities with an inclination towards the more planned & cost-effective organic route. The company will expand into new regions of operations while consolidating its position in its existing markets.