Cement Manufacturing Company Limited (brand name - Star Cement) is planning to invest nearly INR1100crore (US$22.7m) to meet the growing demand of cement in the North East. The new investment has been lined up for three plants ’ two cement grinding plants and a clinker unit. ’We have started the process of the new plants. Two cement grinding plants will be set up in Guwahati and Siliguri respectively while the clinker plant will be in Meghalaya,’ Sanjay Agarwal, director of Cement Manufacturing Company Limited told this correspondent from Kolkata today. Divulging more in this regard, he said that for the Guwahati plant, the company had already initiated the process and it will be ready by 2011. ’It will be set up on the outskirts of the city with a capacity of producing 1.5Mta of cement. To keep the plan on track, we are in close touch with the State Government,’ Agarwal informed.

Cement Manufacturing Company Limited has already set up a unit in Meghalaya with a capacity of one million tonne per annum. Its product is sold in the brand name of Star Cement. In this context, the director said that considering the upswing in demand in the market, the company is planning to increase the existing capacity up to four million per annum. ’ We will be able to produce four million tonne by 2011 immediately after completion of the three plants,’ he added. On the overall cement market, Agarwal stated that the current demand for cement in the country is around 8 per cent whereas in the North East the figure is nearly 16 per cent. Citing reasons for the higher demand in the region, he observed that the North East has witnessed a lot of infrastructure activities during past several years. ’Our annual demand is 5Mt against the supply of 4Mt. The shortfall is met by importing cement from outside, but by 2011, the shortfall will be over,’ he said. Agarwal also hinted at fall in prices of cement soon.
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