JK Cement is planning to set up a new greenfield project to take up the total grey cement capacity to 10 million tonne by 2010 from the current level of four million tonne. The company, which has begun work on the three million tonne plant, Rs 1,000-crore greenfield project in Karnataka, has formally completed the financial closure and expects to operationalise the project by the first quarter of 2009, said Prashant Seth, assistant vice-president, JK Cement.
Speaking to FE, he said: “After the Karnataka project, we will be setting up another greenfield project. We have not yet decided on the location. Currently, we have four million tonne capacity in Rajasthan which will be scaled up to 7 million tonne once the Karnataka project goes on stream. Our target is to have a 10 million tonne capacity by 2010.”
“Our aim is to become a pan-India player and we will go for another greenfield project in the near future,” he said. The white cement capacity has been pegged at 4-lakh tonne per annum and the company has no plans for further expansion of white cement capacity, he added.
He said the company has just concluded the financial closure of the Karnataka project. “Led by IDBI Bank, a host banks, including UBI, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank among others, have agreed to syndicate Rs 525 crore term loan portion. The promoters are chipping in the remaining Rs 475 crore from the internal accruals,” he said adding the project will be executed by its subsidiary Jaykaycem Limited floated a few years ago to acquire the mining lease.
It may be recalled that JK Cement has officially announced the launch of the project in December last. The project once completed will cater to the needs of Karnataka, Maharashtra and a few districts of Andhra Pradesh. “The company is also setting up a grinding unit near the project which will help increasing the capacity to 3.5 million tonne per annum” Seth said further.
