Cement cos make a beeline for Rajasthan

Riding on high demand from the infrastructure sector, leading cement companies are planning major expansion, including setting up new plants, in Rajasthan.

According to sources in the industries department, the state government has received investment proposals worth Rs 10,000 crore from various cement manufacturers.

"Leading cement companies like Grasim, Lafarge India, Aditya Cement, Birla Corporation, Shree Cement, JK Cement, Wonder Cement etc have pledged an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in the state. The state can get cement plants worth 20 million tonne per annum in the next three years,” the source informed.

Rajasthan is the most favoured destination for cement companies it has huge limestone deposit of around 21,000 million tonne out of which around 10,500 million tonne is cement grade mineral. Apart from limestone, which forms the base of cement, the state also has other cement ingredients in abundance like redrocker, China clay, gypsum and silica sand.

Limestone is found in 25 out of 32 districts in the state with large traces in Chittorgarh, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Pali, Sikar, Bundi, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur.

At present, the state has around 14 large scale Portland cement manufacturing plants and two medium scale white cement plants with a total production of 20.30 million tonne per annum.