ACC CEMENT

1,306 acre land given to set up Reliance cement

plant
Madhya Pradesh Industry Minister Jayant Malaiya today informed the Assembly that prospecting
license has been provided to the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group besides 1,306-hectare land at
Raghurajnagar tahsil in Satna district for setting up a cement plant. Replying to supplementary
questions by Mr Narayan Tripathi (SP) during the question hour, Mr Malaiya said land has also
been provided to the ACC to set up a plant in Katni district. The government would make efforts
to ensure that local people get maximum employment from these industries. On the intervention by
Speaker Ishwardas Rohani, Mr Malaiya said action would be taken soon on the pending
proposals related to promotion to the post of the Deputy Director in the Industry Department so
that promotion could take place after the meeting of the departmental promotion committee. The
Speaker said the proposal for promotion was pending from a year and timely action must be
taken to ensure no further delay.

(http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/india/20080318/9120
36.html)

Himachal: ACC cement gets national safety awards

A.C.C.Ltd Gagal cement works Barmana in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh was today
presented national safety award for the year 2009. Union minister of labour and employement
Mallikarjun Kharge presented the national safety award to Atul Khosla Director Plant A C C
Limited Barmana (Bilaspur district) in awards function organised at Vigyan Bhawan New Delhi
toda. The plant has the distinction to ensure 100% use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
related to job at Gagal plant and safety helmets are mandatory for even the drivers entering the
plant. Atul Khosla director plant told that 5 star safety systems has been implemented in plant.
The company has established Occupational and health checkup centre in side the factory besides
full flashed Hospital services in colony premises. The Company has registered around
7300000 Accident Free Manhours for last two years He told that ACC in consultation with Du
Pont, has implemented Contractor Safety Management (CSM) for improving safety of contractor
workers and Regular training programmes related to safe working in various conditions (i.e.
working at heights, working in confined space etc.) are conducted for the employees and other
stake holder for the motivation and behavioral change.

(http://nvonews.com/2010/09/27/himachal-acc-cement-gets-national-safety-
awards/)
 AMBUJA CEMENT
Holcim’s Weijde named new CEO of Ambuja
Cements
Ambuja Cements Ltd (ACL), India’s second largest cement maker, will get a new
chief executive officer (CEO) from 1 May 2010.Four years after Holcim Ltd, the
second largest global cement company after French cement maker Lafarge SA,
acquired management control of ACL from Satyanarayan Seksaria, Holcim
executive Onne Van Der Weijde will take over as CEO of the company.Weijde, who
has been a board member of both ACL and ACC Ltd, will replace the current
managing director of ACL, Amrit L. Kapur, who had worked with the founder
chairman Seksaria, now vice-chairman of ACL. Kapur retires on 30 April
2010.“Weijde will work with Kapur for six months from November 2009 to April
2010,” said ACL spokesman Nandkumar Sanglikar.

(http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/27215438/Holcim8217s-Weijde-named-
ne.html)
 ULTRATECH CEMENT

L&T profit triples after stake sale in UltraTech Cement

India’s biggest engineering and construction firm Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) on
Thursday said first quarter (Q1) profit more than tripled after it sold stake in a
cement maker. Profit rose to Rs1,598 crore in the three months ended June from
Rs502 crore a year ago, Mumbai-based L&T said in a statement. Sales rose 7% to
Rs7,363 crore. Profit would have risen 15% to Rs578 crore without the Rs1,020
crore earned from selling the 11.49% stake in UltraTech Cement Ltd in June, L&T
executive vice-president R. Shankar Raman said on Thursday. The median estimate
of five analysts in a Bloomberg survey was Rs572 crore. The global recession and
the ensuing credit crunch prompted companies and governments to extend
deadlines for completing projects, including power plants, highways and refineries.
Full-year sales may rise 15-20%, about half the pace of the previous year, Raman
said, reiterating chief financial officer Y.M. Deosthalee’s 30 June forecast.

(http://www.livemint.com/2009/07/16235005/LampT-profit-triples-after-s.html)

L&T to sell 11.5 % in Ultratech, Aditya Birla Group may

pick it up

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) will fully exit the cement
business by selling its 11.5% stake in the Aditya Birla controlled UltraTech Cement
by December 2009. The stake will be valued at Rs 800 crore ($160 million) at
Friday's market price thought it may well ask for a premium for selling a large stake
in one of the top five cement companies in the country.L&T would have to sell its
stake by the year-end under the terms of an agreement with Aditya Birla group firm
Grasim, signed in 2003. The agreement brought to an end an epic corporate battle,
during which Grasim made an open offer for L&T. The battle ended with L&T selling
its cement business to the Birlas.According to a report in The Economic Times, Birla
group enjoys the right of first refusal on its stake in UltraTech but L&T can offer it
to a third party if the Birla group doesn’t buy. Birlas and L&T are yet to speak on
the issue even as Birlas are said to be the prime candidate for the stake to
consolidate their holding.

(http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-39544920090511)
 JK CEMENT
JK Cement denies report of talks with Holcim for
acquisition

JK Cement Ltd Tuesday denied media reports that said it is in talks with Swiss
cement company Holcim AG for acquisition and joint ventures.
In a notice to National Stock Exchange, the company categorically denied any news
stating such talks.
The company further denied reports that said it has capacity yet to come on stream
in the southern market, which it is planning to sell.
Tuesday, JK Cement shares ended at Rs 163.50 on National Stock Exchange, up
3.7% from previous close.

(http://money.sulekha.com/jk-cement-denies-report-of-talks-with-holcim-for-acquisition-
jv_news_12479)

JK Lakshmi Cement to set up five RMC plants

Aiming to augment its capacities, cement manufacturer JK Lakshmi is embarking on

an expansion plan to set up five ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants, which could
entail an investment of up to Rs1,000 crore by the end of this fiscal.“By March
2009, we will set up 4-5 RMC plants in four different locations to add value to our
RMC business. With the growing demand of cement in the realty space in the
country, we see a good future for RMC plants,” Lakshmi Cement Managing Director
Vinita Singhania told PTI.

She, however, declined to comment on the production capacities and the possible
locations of the plant.

“We are targeting to set up 6-7 RMC plants per year as our existing facilities are
undergoing optimum capacity utilisation,” Singhania added.On the size of the
investment, she said the cost of setting up one RMC plant is between Rs140 crore
and Rs200 crore.“The company will fund the cost of expansion through internal
accruals. The construction work of two plants is on and the company would launch
the other projects very soon,” she added.In the last financial year, J K Lakshmi set
up five RMC plants each with a capacity of 60 cubic mt per annum at Ahmedabad,
Baroda, Jaipur, Mohali and Surat taking the total number of RMC units to
10.Besides, the national capital-based cement manufacturer is also enhancing its
captive power generation by adding new plants.

(http://www.livemint.com/2008/08/24160139/JK-Lakshmi-Cement-to-set-up-fi.html)

BIRLA CEMENTS
B.K. Birla wants merger of timber, cement firms

Basant Kumar Birla, the patriarch of the Birla family, is keen to merge loss
making Mangalam Timber Products with profit making Mangalam Cement in
a restructuring within the group he controls. Birla said that he was
personally in favour of an amalgamation of the two. “My grand daughter
Vidula Jalan, who is running the two companies, wants to wait for some
more time but I feel we should go ahead with the proposal,” Birla said after
the annual general meeting of group flagship Kesoram Industries Ltd. He
also said to aid the merger he wants to raise his holding in the two firms to
about 50 per cent in the medium term from the current 30 to 40 per cent.
Mangalam Timber, which makes fibre boards, suffered a loss of Rs 1.2
crore on a turnover of 67.56 crore in 2009-10, while Mangalam Cement
earned a profit of Rs 118 crore on net sales of Rs. 614 crore. On Kesoram,
Birla said both his daughter Manjushree Khaitan and grandson Kumar
Mangalam Birla were not willing to take over management control from him
as yet.

(http://www.hindustantimes.com/B-K-Birla-wants-merger-of-timber-cement-
firms/Article1-566056.aspx)

AV Birla takes over L&T cement firm

The Rs 27,000 crore Aditya Birla group on Tuesday became the largest cement player
in the country through the acquisition of management control of UltraTech CemCo —
the demerged cement business of Larsen & Toubro.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla group, said, “The transaction has been a
gratifying move as it reflects our commitment to build a leadership position ahead. We
have become the market leader today with UltraTech CemCo and look at continuing our
leadership through a more aggressive approach towards growth.”

The group’s combined installed capacity is now augmented to 31 million tonne per
annum, making it the eighth largest cement maker in the world.

The Aditya Birla group holds a 51.1 per cent stake in UltraTech CemCo, through its
flagship company Grasim Industries. The group had invested Rs 2,225 crore for
acquiring a majority stake in UltraTech CemCo.

A M Naik, chairman and managing director, L&T, said, “This has been one of the
biggest corporate transactions in India and has helped to unlock the value for its
shareholders and position the demerged L&T as a focussed engineering, construction
and technology company.”

“It will take about two to three years for UltraTech to provide a competitive return on the
aggressive price offered to its shareholders and earnings will be diluted for some years,”
Birla said.

The group has outlined plans for further growth in the cement sector through brownfield
and greenfield expansions.

“In the next financial year we will be looking at expansion both organically and
inorganically for both our cement divisions,” he added.

Cost savings of around Rs 100 crore will be accrued to Grasim on account of

operational synergies between the two cement units through common procurement and
synergies in logistics.

Birla also said the demand in the domestic cement industry should be around 200
million tonne by the end of this decade and Grasim will look at maintaining its leadership
position.

UltraTech listing soon: UltraTech CemCo is set to be listed on the Bombay Stock
Exchange (BSE) in the next couple of days.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla group, said, “The BSE is awaiting the
permission of the Securities and Exchange Board of India and we expect that the listing
should happen in the next couple of days.”

(http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/av-birla-takes-over-lt-cement-firm/155349/)
 JAYPEE CEMENT
Jaypee group cement plant to go on stream by year-end

The Jaypee group is setting up a five-million-tonne-per-annum cement plant in Krishna

district of Andhra Pradesh and it is likely to go on stream by the end of the year,
according to Mr Sajjan Gaur, the Director. The cost of the project is Rs 2,000 crore.

He was briefing the press here, on Thursday, on the proposed initial public offering by
the Jaypee Infratech to fund its Yamuna Expressway project from Noida to Agra. He
said, the Jaypee Infratech was preparing for the Rs 1,650-crore IPO and sometime
during March the issue may hit the market. He expressed confidence that it would fare
very well even in the present market conditions.

The price band would be decided later, he added. He also said the expressway,
scheduled to be finished by 2013, may be completed by 2011.

Mr Gaur said, the Jaypee group was also executing another major project in Andhra
Pradesh – the Srisailam tunnel project, along with the AP Government and the company
was spending Rs 1,925 crore on it.

(http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/02/19/stories/2010021951991900.htm)

Jaypee group to invest around Rs 6,000 cr for cement plant

VADODARA: Industrial giant Jaypee group has plans to invest around Rs 6,000 crore
by 2012 in Gujarat, a top company official said in Vadodara on Wednesday.

"The Jaypee group has plans to invest in the cement manufacturing sector around Rs
6,000 crore in Gujarat state in the coming three years," groups founder Jaiprakash Gaur
said.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today dedicated Jaiprakash Associates' 2.4
million tonnes per annum capacity cement plant in Sewagram, Kutch, Gujarat.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL), the flagship company of the well diversified industrial
conglomerate Jaypee Group having interests in the fields of civil engineering, cement,
power, real estate and hospitality, has made an investment of Rs 1,500 crore in the first
phase of Gujarat Cement project and commissioned 2.4 MTPA cement plant at
Sewagram in Kutch, Gujarat.

(http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/indl-goods-/-svs/cement/Jaypee-
group-to-invest-around-Rs-6000-cr-for-cement-plant/articleshow/5291889.cms)