OCL India Ltd inaugurates Bengal cement plant

OCL India Ltd, a flagship associate company of Dalmia Cement Bharat Ltd, has commissioned its Bengal cement plant in Godapiasal Industrial Park, West Midnapore. The inauguration was performed by Honorable Chief Minister, Government of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, and attended by a number of dignitaries and members of the company’s management team.

The new plant represents an investment of Rs.615 crore, and covers an area of 154.43 acres. The facility will produce Portland slag cement (PSC) and Portland pozzolana cement (PPC), in line with the company’s strict quality standards. The Bengal cement plant comprises state-of-the-art technology, including an ARL QUANT'X Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer, Systronics Double beam UV Visible Spectrophotometer with graphic LCD, and AIMIL Mu Compression Testing Machine with automatic pace rate controller.

Eastern India accounts for 14% of the country’s installed cement capacity and approximately 18% of demand. The new plant represents the beginning of the company’s investment cycle in West Bengal. The group already operates two cement plants in the state, Cuttack and Rajgangour, which have a total cement production capacity of 5.35 million tpa. The new site will create both skilled and semi skilled employment in the area and OCL intends to develop roads, bridges, health and education facilities in the local community as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

“Bengal's economy has impressively withstood the continuing slowdown in economic growth in previous years and currently is on a high growth trajectory. We want to grow in Bengal to create a market enduring goodwill by benefitting both our buyers and investors. The current boost in industrialisation in the state has prompted us to replicate our success of Rajgangpur and Cuttack, in Salboni. We plan to scale up our presence in the Bengal market by completing the first phase of investment in the plant. Our high capacity plant located strategically will ensure timely and faster delivery of cement across the state, a significant emerging market for infrastructure development and thereby the cement industry,” said Mr Puneet Dalmia, Director, OCL India Ltd.

Adapted from press release by Louise Fordham

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/15072014/ocl_inaugurates_bengal_cement_plant_india_89/