Mid-size cement companies plan expansion

Mid-level companies, which have a localised footprint in India’s highly regional cement industry, have revealed plans to more than double their capacity, and enhance output to about 15-20 MT in the next four or five years through a combination of brownfield and greenfield expansions. The exercise also seeks to help diversify their geographic bases. After recently calling off the acquisition of Jaypee Group’s two cement plants in central India, South-based Orient Cement plans to spend around Rs 3,600 crore until 2023 to almost double its capacity to 15 MT. The expansion entails adding clinker and grinding units to its existing facilities at Devapur in Telangana by March, 2021. This will be followed by adding 3 MT grinding capacity at Kalaburagi in Karnataka, and a likely split grinding unit in Bengaluru to serve the high-consumption markets of Bengaluru and Mysuru, going deeper into Kerala. To enter the eastern market, Orient Cement is also contemplating a grinding unit in Odisha. The cement industry has witnessed some extreme churning since last year, with some large ticket acquisitions by big players such as UltraTech.