JSW Cement to add 14 mn tonnes capacity in 3 yrs

JSW Cement Limited, part of JSW Group, is planning to increase its cement capacity to 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from the current six mtpa. The proposed expansion will cater to future demand and going by the current market value expansion may cost around Rs 8,000-9,000 crore, said company's senior official.

JSW Cement's Chief Executive Officer Anil Kumar Pillai said overall, the cement sector has seen no growth recently. However, with some major announcements made in the Union budget towards pushing infrastructure growth, the second half (from October) could be a turning point for the cement industry.

Infrastructure will be the foundation for the revival (demand for cement) of the sector and it will be followed by industry and others, said Pillai.

JSW's capacity utilisation is currently at 60-65 per cent and this will be increased to 70 per cent in 2015-16. Currently the company has plants at Maharastra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telegana.

Company's Karnataka and Maharastra plants are running at around 100 per cent, while Andhra Pradesh and Telegana plants are operating at around 50-55 per cent, said Pillai.

To cater future growth, the company is planning to increase its capacity to 20 million tonnes per annum in the next 2-3 years. Going by the current market value this would see an investment of around Rs 8,000-9,000 crore. 

The proposed expansion will be through brownfield, green field and company also open for acquisitions.

When queried whether JSW Cement is in the race to acquire Lafarge’s assets, which was reported by cross section of Media, Pillai declined to comment stating that the company is open for inorganic growth and don't want to comment further.

Reports stated that JSW Cement Ltd is one of the companies may bid for French company Lafarge SA’s cement units in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Pillai also clarified that the company did not shelve the Gulbarga projects, as reported in Media. “It is an important plant for us, we have applied for environment clearance,” said Pillai. The company is planning to set up a 3Mt/yr clinker plant at Chittapur in Gulbarga.