JK Cement to expand capacity by 3 mn tpa

Kanpur-based JK Cement, which has cement manufacturing capacity of 7.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa), plans to raise it by another 3 mn tpa through brownfield expansions. The total capacity of 7.5 mn tpa is spread across the firm's four production facilities -- three in Rajasthan and one in Karnataka. Further, the firm plans to enter into the international market by setting up a greenfield dual process white cement-cum-grey cement plant in the free trade zone (FTZ) at Fujairah, UAE. This would be the firm's first international project and it aims to cater to the GCC and African markets. The proposed plant at Fujairah would have a capacity of 0.6 mn tpa for white cement with a flexibility to change over its operation to produce upto 1 mn tpa of grey cement. During the July-September 2012, the firm announced a net profit of Rs 54.09 crore and a total revenue of Rs 714.88 crore. In order to fund its expansion plan and its international venture, the firm plans to raise up to Rs 200 crore from institutional investors. The fund raising is also intended to meet its working capital needs, reports suggest. For this purpose, the firm plans to come out with a QIP (qualified institutional placement) of up to Rs 200 crore by way of issuing equity share. In this regard, the firm convened a meeting of shareholders on February 9.