India’s Orient Cement Ltd has received the first stage of environmental clearance for its INR20bn (US$291m) project to expand its Telangana facility. Construction to increase capacity from 3.05Mta to 7.5Mta is expected to commence within four months, once it has received the final clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF). 

Deepak Khetrapal, managing director of Orient Cement, has requested the state’s minister for IT and industries to consider the provision of limestone linkage from the mines of Telangana State Mineral Development Corp for the longtime operation of the plant, according to The Times of India.