The Indian Jaypee group has drawn up an investment plan of Rs 3000 crore to raise its cement capacity to 15Mta by 2007 from the current 7Mta. The investment will come from the recently-concluded foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) issue of US$200m which, the company hopes, will deliver a 100 per cent growth in revenues. "Post expansion, we will be the third-largest cement player in the country after AV Birla group and Holcim," said Manoj Gaur, managing director, Jaypee Associates.  
 
The group is also modernising its UP cement, which it recently acquired for Rs 459 crore from the Uttar Pradesh government. Jaypee will spend Rs 350 crore on modernising the outfit.  The group will also set up a thermal power plant there. "This is the only cement plant that can exist in Uttar Pradesh because of limited limestone availability. Uttar Pradesh is the second-largest consumer after Maharashtra," said Gaur. 
 
The group is also among those pre-qualified by Steel Authority of India (SAIL) for a cement joint venture in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. A decision on the issue is likely by March this year.   "If this does not work out, we will explore a plant on our own in Madhya Pradesh," said Gaur. The Jaypee group is also eyeing an alternative fuel project in Chandigarh for the group’s cement plant in Himachal Pradesh.