Jaiprakash Associates to invest in cement units
Infrastructure major Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) will invest Rs 4,000 crore by 2009 to increase its cement capacity by more than three-fold to 25Mt.
The company has a combined cement capacity of 7Mt at its four plants in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It will scale up the capacity to 25Mt, after setting up new plants in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, by December 2009, Jaiprakash Associates Executive Chairman Manoj Gaur said.
The company had acquired UP Cement Corporation last year and production from the unit would commence soon, Gaur said.
The capacity expansion would require an investment of Rs 4,000 crore, of which Rs 2,500 crore is already under way, he said, adding that the expansion is being funded through internal accruals.
Gaur said with the country’s economy growing at over 8 per cent, sectors like infrastructure would require huge investment. Cement manufacturers in the country have already lined up investments to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore to create capacity of 80 million tonnes in the next three years to meet the growing demand of cement, he said.
"Indian cement manufacturers have always established capacity before demand to meet any deficit in the industry. They have lined up huge investments and are adding capacities," he said. Published under Cement News
