India: Emami plans national presence

Emami Cement Ltd, part of the Emami Group, announced its plans to expand on a national scale over the next 5-7 years, with intentions to open plants in areas such as Rajasthan and Karnataka, India.

Company Director Aditya Vardhan Agarwal said operations have already begun at its clinker plant at Chhattisgarh. "The plant produces clinker of 4Mta. 5Mta of cement could be produced with this 4Mta of clinker," he said, adding that the clinker will be transported to new plants in Panagarh, West Bengal and Odisha, with capacities of 2Mta and 1.5Mta, respectively. According to Mr Agarwal, the Panagarh plant is due to become operational in December.

These projects represent a total investment of INR30bn (US$446m), with INR5bn (US$74.3m) being directed to both the Panagarh and Odisha plants and INR20bn (US$297.5m) going towards the Chhattisgarh plant.