Coal news and updates

Adani Cementation, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, is in the process of setting up cement-grinding and clinker facilities in Gujarat and Karnataka for R3,000 crore to meet the growing demand of cement in south and west India, people close to the development told FE.

The company has invited engineering consultancy bids to set up 2 million tonne per annum (mtpa) cement-grinding plants at Mundra in Gujarat and Udupi in Karnataka. Besides these, there will be a 5 mtpa clinker grinding facility at Lakhpat in Gujarat. The plants would be closer to their Udupi Power Corporation complex and the Adani Power complex in Mundra. The cost for setting up two grinding plants is estimated at R1,120 crore, while the clinker plant will cost anywhere between R1,500 crore to R2,000 crore. The cost would include R15 crore towards pollution-control measures at the grinding facilities.

The project is likely to be completed in 24 months, including 18 months for project execution after placement of the main machinery order. Adani Cementation was set up in December last year as part of a long-term strategy to set up integrated cement-manufacturing plants, grinding units and limestone mines. The plants are planned closer to their power plants, which would also help them to use fly-ash, a waste from coal-fired power plants, disposal of which is a huge challenge for thermal power plants.

The company plans to set up close to 35-40 mtpa of all-inclusive capacity of grinding, clinker and manufacturing facilities in the coming years. Fly-ash constitutes 35% of the total raw material requirements that also includes gypsum and clinker for preparing cement. Total requirement of fly-ash would be around 2,150 tonne per day, Gypsum would be 245 tonne per day, while Clinker would be around 3,700 tonne per day for the grinding plants at Mundra and Udupi. The company plans to import clinker from West Asia while gypsum would be sourced from the market domestically.An email sent to the company did not elicit any response till the time of going to the press.

According to the pre-feasibility report for the Udupi and Mundra projects, the company believes that the total cement production in the area –—Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in western India, and Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, in south India — do not match the demand growth, and hence new capacities need to come up concurrently. The proposed plants are expected to ensure that the supply situation in Gujarat and Karnataka is comfortable in the coming times, as growth is expected to propel demand.

Source: Financial Express