JK Lakshmi Cement to invest Rs600 cr on expansion
JK Lakshmi Cement to invest Rs600 cr on expansion
PTI
Chandigarh: The Rs900 crore JK Lakshmi Cement plans to expand its manufacturing capacity to about 5 million metric tonnes and setting up upto 20 ready-mix-concrete (RMC) plants at a total outlay of about Rs600 crore.
The existing capacity of the plant is 3.4 million tonnes.
“In order to meet the burgeoning demand from construction sector, we are infusing fresh capital of Rs400 crore for expanding the production capacity from 3.4 million metric tonnes to 5 million metric tonnes, which would be funded through mix of debt, equity and internal accruals," JK Lakshmi Cement director Shailendra Chouksey told reporters here.
The capacity enhancement is expected to be complete by October 2008, he said.
Besides, the firm plans to add 15-20 RMC plants with an investment of Rs8-10 crore per unit in the coming years, of which at least 5-6 would be added during the current fiscal. At present, JK Lakshmi is operating seven RMC plants in northern India.
The company unveiled Punjab’s first high-tech RMC plant in Mohali on 22 June.
Elaborating the benefits of RMC, Chouksy said: "In developed economies on-site mix concrete now constitutes 20% of the total concrete used and the balance is in the form of RMC.“
Disclosing the RMC business plan, he said, “The RMC industry is growing at 25-30% a year... 5-6 years ago this industry was non-existent in India."
As per industry estimates, currently about 6.5% of the total cement consumed is in the form of RMC. The figure is expected to go upto 11-12% by 2010.
JK Lakshmi Cement has marketing offices in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. In 2006-07 it clocked a turnover of Rs972 crore.
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