Ambuja Cements plans to invest Rs 3,500 crore for the expansion of its cement grinding capacity. Currently, the company has an annual cement production capacity of 31 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) with six integrated cement manufacturing plants and eight cement grinding units across the country.
Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director & CEO, Ambuja Cements said the board has approved in principle investment of Rs 3,500 crore for a cement grinding expansion plan of potential 7 mtpa across the existing grinding units at Sankrail and Farakka and a greenfield location at Barh in Bihar.
This is supported by a 3.2 mtpa brownfield clinker expansion at the company’s existing integrated plant in Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh.
Ambuja Cements reported that its consolidated net profit in the December quarter more than halved to Rs 431 crore against Rs 968 crore logged in the same period last year on the back of higher cost and lower realisation. Revenue from operations was up at Rs 7,625 crore (Rs 7,453 crore).
Economic activity continues to see improvement due to upbeat business confidence. The recently announced Union Budget focuses on growth led by the substantial increase in the Capex for the infrastructure sector. Cement demand growth is expected to remain positive backed by increased demand for housing combined with the government’s thrust on infrastructure development, said the company.