There was high drama at the 90th annual general meeting (AGM) of Birla Corporation on Wednesday and was adjourned following a stay order from the Alipore Court. The stalled AGM has been rescheduled for June 29.

Prabhat Kumar Surekha, a shareholder with 200 shares of the company, moved Alipore Court on the issue of the company using postal ballot to get shareholders’ approval on future business plans. On Tuesday night, district judge Kalpana Dey passed an ex-parte order of injunction on holding the AGM of Birla Corporation. According to sources, the notice could not be served on the company till Wednesday afternoon.

According to the counsel of the complainant, the company made an attempt to vacate the stay through a revision petition on the AGM at the Calcutta High Court. While the matter was put before Justice Prasenjit Mondal by the counsel of Birla Corporation, the judge fixed it for hearing on Thursday. A large number of shareholders were present at the AGM proceedings. A section of shareholders raised questions about the company’s corporate governance policies, as Harsh V Lodha, who chaired the meeting, took notes. Harsh Lodha answered the questions raised at the AGM. After a 20 minutes break, Lodha informed the shareholders that the meeting would have to be rescheduled following a court stay order. ?It is very unfortunate that we could not complete the annual general meeting. We have not seen the court order yet and we will be able to comment on the next course of action only when we get the orders.?

Lodha said, ?The meeting commenced, adjourned and no business could be taken forward.?

Birlas keep Rs 2,400 crore to ramp up capacity

Birla Corporation plans to invest Rs 2,400 crore to hike its cement production from 5.7 million tonne to 9.3 million tonne.

The first phase of the enhancement of of the clinker capacity at its Satna plant to 7,400 tonne per day has already been completed while the second and final phase is likely to be completed by next month. This will increase Satna’s clinker manufacturing capacity from 7,400 tonne per day to 9,600 tonne per day. The company is also setting up a brownfield plant at Chanderia in Rajasthan with a capacity of 1.2 million tonne. ?We are increasing the grinding capacity by 0.6 million tonne per annum at Durgapur. This will increase total capacity to 2.3 million tonne,? said Harsh Vardhan Lodha, chairman of Birla Corporation at the company’s 90th AGM on Wednesday.

He said the company also plans to install a mixing and packing plant with a capacity of 3 lakh tonne per annum at Kota in Rajasthan. The projects are expected to be completed within two years, increasing cement capacity to 9.3 million tonne. ?While our investment in the 3 MT plant at Satna will be around Rs 1,300 crore, investment in other expansion plans is around 1,100 crore,? Lodha said. The company is also looking forward to set up a limestone and cement plant in Assam with an investment of Rs 400 crore.