Reliance plant to be commissioned in September, while Heidelberg sells grinding unit

Reliance Infrastructure’s second cement plant – a 5 million tpa unit in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh – is due to enter commissioning this September.

“The foray into cement is a natural extension of our interests in power and infrastructure business that would give it a competitive advantage in the cement sector,” Lalit Jalan, the company’s CEO, told press. “The synergy of these factors combined with the quality of our product and the execution abilities of the Reliance Group will help drive the business.” Indeed, the Group is putting a lot of faith in the cement industry, with plans to expand its cement production capacity to 20 million t within three years, and to increase this to 50 million t over time.

Meanwhile, HeidelbergCement India is selling its 0.6 million tpa grinding facility in Raigad to JSW Group for an undisclosed sum.

"The disposal is in line with the company's philosophy of divesting less strategic assets with lower margins to focus on more strategic and key operations in Central India where the company had recently expanded its cement capacity from 2 to 5 mtpa," HeidelbergCement India’s CEO Ashish Guha said, while JSW Ispat called the acquisition a means to ‘develop a stable outlet for evacuation of slag’ without having to create an additional grinding facility. Heidelberg had been looking at ways to optimise the plant, including potential expansion, but ultimately it has decided its focus is better placed elsewhere.

The transaction is not yet finalised and will require all relevant approvals, including that of shareholders, to be obtained.

Edited from various sources by Katherine Guenioui.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/22052013/news_from_india_reliance_heidelberg_41/