For the 1st time in the world, Dalmia Bharat to roll out fast-curing cement

In a first of its kind in the world, Dalmia Bharat Cement is coming up with a chemically modified variant of cement which drastically reduces the curing time from 3-4 weeks to 3 days. It is poised to benefit infrastructural as well as large-scale housing construction in the country as completion time for these projects can be reduced by a month.

Curing refers to the process and time taken to maintain the correct moisture level in concrete to achieve the desired strength and durability.

The company has already piloted this specialty cement in the taxiway at Chennai airport and is awaiting clearance from the patent authorities.

It is part of the value added construction chemicals and additives business which this company has been trying to enter.

“We are looking at new verticals and develop things which are absolutely new and unique and this cement is a step in that direction. Currently, no other company globally has this kind of cement”, Sujit Ghosh, executive director of new building solutions at Dalmia Bharat said on the sidelines on an event orgnaised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce.

Currently, this cement variant, titled Infra Green, is manufactured in the 4 million tonne per annum (mtpa) Dalmiapuram plant in Tamil Nadu, the 2.5 mtpa plant in Belgaum and the 4 mtpa plant in Rajgangpur in Odisha.

The product is yet to hit the retail market.

So far, over the past couple of years, the company has spent Rs. 1 billion for research and development of this cement and allied products besides putting up the production lines at the three abovementioned plants.

It has also rolled out a surface finish solution, similarly to wall putty, which can be applied on both wall and ceiling of a construction.

Ghosh claimed that a consumer can save upto 15 per cent of the total painting cost by applying this putty, christened Magic.

The construction chemicals and additives segment in the country is estimated at around Rs. 13.90 billion growing at a rate of 12-25 per cent depending on the sub-category. While wall putty has a 60 per cent market penetration and offers a 25 per cent margin, construction chemicals has an extremely low level of market penetration of seven per cent, but offers a 40 per cent cut for the company.

On the other hand, after a failed attempt to acquire the stressed Binani Cement this year, which was turned down by the Supreme Court, Dalmia Bharat is focussing on strengthening its presence in the eastern part via brownfield and greenfield projects as well as is on the lookout for timely acquisitions or a greenfield plant for its maiden northern foray.

Although the company has mining licenses in Rajasthan and land in this state as well as Madhya Pradesh, it is upping its capacity in it’s the 1.3 mtpa plant in West Bengal to 4 mtpa and its Rajgangpur plant by another 3 mtpa.

The expected outgo on account of these brownfield projects, which will be completed in the next two years, is estimated at around Rs. 35 billion.

On the other hand, Ghosh said that the company is on the lookout to set-up a greenfield grinding unit in north Bengal where an investment of Rs. 6-7 billion can be made.

After completion of these brownfield projects, alongwith operationalizing the Kalyanpur Cement in Bihar, Dalmia Bharat’s installed capacity will go up from the current 26 mtpa to nearly 33 mtpa.