ACC to invest Rs 1,400 cr for expansion next yr

ACC, the country's largest cement manufacturer, today said it would invest Rs 1,400 crore next year to expand its production capacity to 30 million tonnes by 2010-end and would raise Rs 300 crore to retire some of its long-term debt.

"We had planned a capex of Rs 1,600 crore in 2009, and going forward for next year we have a planned capex of another Rs 1,400 crore," ACC Managing Director Sumit Banerjee told reporters on the sidelines of a CII event here.

Banerjee said these investment, meant for completing the ongoing expansion, would be funded through internal accruals. "By the end of next year, the total production capacity would be 30 million tonnes per annum," he added.

The company had a production capacity of 22.63 million tonnes per annum at the end of 2008. It produced nearly 21 million tonnes cement in 2008.

Banerjee said the company would raise Rs 300 crore debt and the same "will be used to retire some of our long term debt".

On current demand scenario, Banerjee said, "Currently, the demand is mostly driven by rural and infrastructure sectors, while the demand from housing and commercial sectors has not picked up yet. In the next few months, we expect growth in demand from the housing and commercial sectors."