ABG Cement aims to double Kutch plant capacity

ABG Cement, a company floated by ABG Group for entering into cement manufacturing and sale, aims to raise production capacity of its cement plant in Kutch to 6.6 million tonnes per annum in the long run.

At present, the company is setting up 3.3 million tonnes cement plant at Abadasa in Kutch district. Kutch cement plant is already under construction and the company is investing around Rs. 1,200 crore to Rs. 1,500 crore for the plant.

"Initially, the plant will have a capacity of 3.3 million tonnes, which may be scaled up to 6.6 million tonnes at a later stage," said a senior company official.

 

The ongoing cement unit at Kutch is likely to go on stream by September-December 2011. A captive power plant of around 100 Mw would also come up at Kutch. The area in which this cement plant is being set up has adequate quantities of limestone, which is the basic raw material for manufacturing cement. Proximity to sea is yet another locational advantage that this site enjoys. The company will be able to use sea to transport cement to the coastal areas of India and for exports.

In addition to this, the company intends to establish a cement grinding unit at Hazira in Surat. "The capacity of the grinding unit will be 3.3 million tonnes per year. All the production of Kutch cement will be brought to Surat grinding unit and it will be packed and dispatched from there," the official added.

It may be mentioned here that Jayprakash Associates Limited (JAL) has recently commissioned 2.4 million tonnes a year cement project in Kutch. The company has also chalked out plans to set up three cement plants in Gujarat with an overall capacity to produce about 12.2 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA).