Venus plans Rs 1,500-cr cement plant in Kutch

Mumbai-based Venus Mercantile Company Pvt. Ltd. is planning to set up a cement plant in Kutch. The plant will have initial capacity of 3.8 million tonnes per annum.

The company, whose promoters are into edible oil and steel businesses, is likely to spend around Rs 1,300-1,500 crores for the project.

The company intends to fund the process through debt and internal accruals. The plant is expected to be come up within 2 years. Venus Mercantile has already applied for mining lincenses in Abdasa and Lakhpat regions of Kutch.

Confirming the development, a senior official of the company said, "We intend to set up a cement plant in Kutch. We will finalise the plans after the state government announces new mining policy before going ahead."

Venus is not the only compan, which intends to set up a cement plant in Kutch. Kutch is high on the preference-list many cement manufactures given the limestone reserves in the region.

Surat-based Aalidhra & Bhavani Clinkers and Morbi-based Ajanta Ltd. too are planning cement plants in the region. All the players are waiting for the state government to announce its mining policy before finalising their plans.

Ajanta Limited is mulling to set up a cement manufacturing plant with a capacity of around 15 million tonnes per annum in Kutch. The Morbi-based group plans to make an investment of Rs 1,000 crore in a phased manner. The plant is expected to start operations in 2010.

Besides, Surat-based Aalidhra Cement and Clinkers Ltd. too is planning to set up a cement plant at Lakhpat in Kutch with an investment of around Rs 1,500 crores.

The construction work of the plant is expected to be start by next 6 to 8 months. The proposed plant will have manufacturing capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum and it will manufacturer cement and clinker.