VRL Cements: India’s newest entry into the market

Vijay Sankeshwar, a transport business tycoon who operates the country’s largest road transport company, VRL Logistics Ltd, has together with his son Anand and other family members, formed VRL Cements Ltd. The new company proposes to create a 2 million tpa greenfield cement plant in north Karnataka. In an interview with Business Standard, Vijay Sankeshwar said, “we have submitted a proposal to the Karnataka government which is developing a cement zone in the Gulbarga and Bagalkot region. We have sought land from the state government. Once the project is approved by the high level clearance committee and the land is allotted, we will prepare a detailed project report for the path ahead.”

VRL Cements has sought 300 acres from the state government in Badami taluk of Bagalkot district, which has abundant reserves of limestone. The new cement plant is expected to create 180 jobs, and the company is also proposing, as part of the contract, to set up a 50 MW coal-based captive power plant.

VRL Cements plans to manufacture Portland cement, Portland slag cement, and white cement and to market these in Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala.

There are 16 cement plants in Karnataka that between them produce 11 million tpa, or about 6.5% of India’s total production. In the last three years the Karnataka government has approved 19 cement projects with a total capacity of 44 million tpa, and expects to add at least 20 million t of cement by the end of 2011.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/asia-pacific-rim/31032010/vrl_cements_enters_the_indian_cement_market/