HeidelbergCement India Ltd (HCL) has completed the first step towards raising its capacity in central India by increasing grinding capacity at its Jhansi grinding works in Uttar Pradesh.

The plant's capacity has been expanded from 0.8Mta to 2.7Mta, raising HCL’s total cement volumes in the country to 5Mta.

“This is the first move towards our expansion plans in central India. We expect cement consumption to grow at a relatively higher rate in this region and we stand committed towards bettering the prospects for our stakeholders,” said Ashish Guha, CEO & MD of HeidelbergCement India.

As well as increasing its presence in the central region, the company also expects to increase deliveries to other markets including including Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttarakhand

The second phase of expansion at Damoh in Madhya Pradesh is likely to be installed within the next couple of months, the company said. This project involves raising clinker capacity from 1.2Mta to 3.1Mta. HCL is also expanding cement grinding capacity at Imlai from 1Mta to 2Mta. The completions of these projects will lift the group’s total capacity in India by a further 1Mta to 6Mta.