India Cements mulls to add 3 mn tonne production

To add over three million tonne at two of its cement plants in Tamil Nadu, India Cements has started the paper work on a brownfield expansion. Acknowledging the plan, sources said the objective is to get clearances in place, as these are long-term plans for the company. The brownfield expansions are at Dalavoi, where a 40 mw coal-based captive power plant is also planned, and at Sankaridurg. At Dalavoi, in Ariyalur district of Tamil Nadu, the company plans to add a new line that will add over 2.55 million tonne to the existing 2.16 million tonne annual capacity. This will take the total capacity at the plant to 4.71 million tonne. A 2x20 mw captive power plant will also be set up to fully meet the power requirement. A similar exercise is also on at Sankaridurg , though on a smaller scale. The company has a 0.7 million tonne plant whose capacity will be doubled, the source said. The expansions, when they happen, will add to the company's annual cement production capacity of 15.5 million tonne spread across eight cement plants in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. The company also has two grinding plants near Chennai and Parli, Maharashtra.