J K Lakshmi Cement, a leading cement producer in north India, is expanding its capacity from 3.4 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes. The company has lined up investments worth Rs 400 crore for the expansion, which will go into setting up a cement plant, a grinding unit, a co-generation unit and seven ready mix concrete (RMC) plants. | |
| "We are investing Rs 230 crore in expanding the cement capacity at Sirohi (Rajasthan) from 3.4 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes. Another Rs 72 crore will be used for setting up a 18 megawatt power plant to supply power for the additional capacity. The additional capacity will be operational from October next year," said Shailendra Chouksey, whole-time director of the company. |
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| With the extra capacity, the company will be in a position to make an impact on cement prices in the market. Post-expansion, the unit will be the country's second single location cement unit with a capacity of 5 million tonnes. |
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| As of now, Ultratech Cement's Gujarat facility is the sole 5 million tonne single-location unit in the country, said Chouksey. |
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| "We are also investing Rs 56 crore in setting up 7 RMC plants in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab, taking the number of RMC plants to 12 by the end of current financial year," he said. |
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| RMC refers to concrete that is specifically manufactured for delivery to the customer's construction site in a freshly mixed and unhardened state. |
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| Concrete itself is a mixture of the portland cement, water and aggregates comprising sand and gravel. It can be custom-made to suit different applications. |
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| RMC has replaced 10 per cent of cement demand. Bulk users in the real estate business are increasingly using RMC to save on time and cost overrun in projects. |
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| In booming construction centres such as Gurgaon, almost 70 per cent of cement consumption is in the form of RMC. |
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