Dighi Port expected to attract further cement projects, India

Dighi Port expected to attract further cement projects, India
06 December 2010


Following Jaypee Cement’s plans to set up a 3Mt cement grinding plant in the port area of the upcoming Dighi Port in Raigad district of Maharashtra, Aditya Birla Group company UltraTech and Binani Cement are in talks with port developers to set up grinding and packaging plants there, sources close to the development said.

The Dighi Port, promoted by Balaji Infra Projects as a joint venture with Maharashtra Maritime Board under private-public-partnership (PPP), expects to commission its first phase by March 2011. IL&FS is a co-developer to the project and holds 20% equity in Dighi Port.

While UltraTech is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect soon, negotiations between Dighi Port and Binani Cement are still on. While Jaypee had taken up 40 acres on a 30-year lease from Dighi Port, UltraTech will set up the plant in 50 acres of land, sources added. An email query sent to UltraTech remained unanswered, while a spokesperson from Binani could not be reached for comments.

According to Vijay Kalantri, chairman & MD, Dighi Port, a total of INR1200 crore has been invested in the first phase of the port development. "For the first phase, the port has already tied-up 12-13Mt of cargo through various MoUs with companies," he said. The total development of the port will attract an investment of about INR2500 crore, which will be invested by 2012. The port will be fully operational with five berths and a capacity to handle 25-30Mt of cargo by then.
Published under Cement News