Emami Cement looks at a national presence in next 5-7 years

Kolkata, July 26 (IANS) Emami Cement Ltd, a part of the Emami group, has plans to expand its presence nationally in the next five to seven years by setting plants in Rajasthan and Karnataka, a top company official said on Tuesday.

"Limestone availability is key for cement business. We have plans to set up plants in Rajasthan and Karnataka and expect to have a national footprint in next 5-7 years," said company Director Aditya Vardhan Agarwal.

He said operations have been started in its clinker plant at Chhattisgarh. "The plant produces clicker of four million tonne per annum (mtpa). Five mtpa of cement could be produced with this four mtpa of clinker," he said, adding clinkers will be transported to its cement producing plants in West Bengal and Odisha.

According to Agarwal, the company is setting up a cement plant at Panagarh in Burdwan district of West Bengal with a capacity of two mtpa and another plant with a capacity of 1.5 mtpa will come up in Odisha. "Panagarh plant is expected to be operational from December," he said.

"Total investment for these projects is Rs 3,000 crore. The West Bengal and Odisha plants will have an investment of around Rs 500 crore each while Rs 2,000 crore is invested in the Chhattisgarh plant," Agarwal said.

"From cement, the expected revenue would be around Rs 2,500-3,000 crore without any expansion," he said.