Soon, Bengal to witness significant expansion in cement sector

Kolkata: Bengal is all set to witness a robust expansion in the cement sector, with an investment of Rs 2,400 crore from three leading companies by 2021. The capacity increase will be around 7 million tones, in addition to the existing 22 million tonnes per annum.

"When we came to power (in 2011), there were only five cement companies with a combined capacity of 4.8 million tonnes. Now, there are 16 companies with a total installed capacity of about 22 million tonnes. A number of companies like JSW cement, Dalmia and Star Cement have announced their expansion plans, which will push it up to nearly 30 million tonnes in the next three years. The investment of Rs 5,000 crore in cement has already happened and I am hopeful that it will be pushed to Rs 10,000 crore in the next few years," said state Finance and Industry minister Amit Mitra, on the sidelines of 'Cementing India' organised by ICC on Friday.

Star Cement has announced its plans of setting up a greenfield grinding plant at Jalpaiguri in North Bengal, with a 2 million tonne capacity. "We have a plant in the North East with a capacity of 3.5 MT per annum. Now, we are commissioning a new one with 2 MT capacity on a 20 acre land at Jalpaiguri. The investment will be around Rs 400 crore," said Sanjay Agarwal, managing director, Star Cement.

JSW cement is adding another 2.4 million tonnes to its existing capacity of 2.4 MT at Salboni in two phases and the total investment will be to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore.

Dalmia Cement is also expanding its cement plant at Salboni. "We have a plant of 1.7 MT. It will go up to 4 MT by 2021. The investment will be to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore," said Sujit Ghosh, executive director of Dalmia Bharat Cement.

The minister urged the cement makers to consider setting up of integrated plants in the state, where grinding units are more common due to the lack of limestone deposits.

"BASF in Germany, which is in the area of industrial construction chemicals, has come up with investment at Kharagpur, realising the tremendous boom in the sector in Bengal in the coming years. I have urged the cement companies to diversify and pose a stiff competition to BASF," Mitra said.