HeidelbergCement expands Indian capacity to 5 mtpa

Expanding cement-making capacity in India, Germany's HeidelbergCement on Wednesday commissioned the first phase of its Rs 1,400-crore expansion plans, taking production to 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

The leading global cement-maker, which had entered into the Indian market by acquiring Mysore Cements in 2006, had 3.1 mtpa capacity before its Jhansi grinding unit in Uttar Pradesh went on stream. The Jhansi unit's capacity has now gone up to 2.7 mtpa from 0.8 mtpa earlier.

"This is the first move towards our expansion plans in Central India. With the commissioning of the new mill that has been funded through mix of internal accruals and debts, the company has increased its all India cement capacity to five mtpa," Ashish Guha, CEO and managing director, HeidelbergCement India, said.

The company is also enhancing capacity in Damoh in Madhya Pradesh to raise the capacity to 6 mtpa, a company source said, adding that the date of commissioning of the project would be announced soon.

"The total investment in these two plants amounts to Rs 1,400 crore," the source said. HeidelbergCement, which mainly caters to the Central Indian market and now trying to position its 'mycem' brand in other parts of the country, had achieved highest ever cement sale of 2.81 million tonne in 2011.

"We expect cement consumption to grow at a relatively higher rate in the central regions and stand committed towards bettering the prospects for our stakeholders," Guha said.