Cement cos chalk expansion plans

Cement industry plans to expand on the back of a reasonable recovery in the domestic economy and demand for cement hitting double-digit growth trajectory. The industry is under-going expansions worth Rs 50,000 crore to take the overall capacity to close to 300 mn tonne by 2012. With the economy expected to grow at over 7 per cent, cement demand is likely to rise more than 9 per cent. ACC and Ambuja Cements plan to invest over Rs 4,642 crore to add 10 mn tonne to take its production capacity to 60 mn tonne. Grasim and UltraTech will add 25 mn tonne at an investment of Rs 14,000 crore in the next five years to ramp up capacity to 75 mn tonne. Jaiprakash Associates has increased its target to 35 mtpa from 22 mtpa. Shree Cement plans to set up plants in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka over the next two-five years. Cement consumption will be close to 205 mn tonne, while capacity will stand at 250 mn tonne, by the end of current fiscal.