Kesoram to boost cement capacity to 15 MT in next 3-4 years

Kesoram Industries Ltd, a B K Birla Group subsidiary, announced that it plans to increase its cement production capacity to 15 million tonnes (MT) from 11 MT.

Kesoram, which has demerged its tyres and rayon businesses, is on course to make a profit in the current fiscal year (FY).

P Radhakrishnan, whole-time director & CEO, told the media that they have chosen to increase cement capacity to 15 MT in phases over the next 3-4 years, up from 10-11 MT. The overall outlay would be between Rs 350 and Rs 500 crore.

He said that the company's financials would improve in the next quarters as debt reduce and low-cost funds refinance. He added that in 2022, they will turn profitable on a net basis.

Radhakrishnan said they are always attempting to reduce their interest cost to enhance the financial situation. This year, they want to discharge the debt of Rs 500-600 crore and refinance a portion of the total existing debt (Rs 300-400 crore) with low-cost funds to reduce interest costs.

With high-cost Optionally Convertible Debentures (OCDs) and Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs), the business has an outstanding debt of Rs 1650 crore, down from over Rs 2000 crore a year earlier.

The B K Birla group firm also stated that it is shifting its product mix to include more value-added cement, which would increase its EBITA by another Rs 150 crore in the next two years, bringing it to over Rs 950 crore yearly.

An offcial stated that they're always adding mixed cement to their inventory and plan to increase this to 80% in two years from currently 50%.

Kesoram planned to increase capacity by one million tonnes by de-bottlenecking and then add a kiln to the existing facility to decrease capital expenditures.

After weighing all possibilities, the firm will shortly begin accepting fixed deposits, which would help the company get closer to its target of Rs 200 crore.

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