ACC, a LafargeHolcim Group company, plans to invest ₹600 crore in setting up five ready-mix concrete plants and undertake various debottlenecking projects across its plants this year.

The company has just completed investment of ₹2,700 crore in an integrated project involving setting up of 2.79 million tonne per annum (mtpa) of clinker and 1.1 mtpa of grinding facility at Jamul in Chhattisgarh and grinding unit of 1.35 mtpa at Sindri in Jharkhand.

The investment will take the company's production capacity to 35 mtpa from 30 mtpa.

Addressing shareholders at the company's 81st AGM on Wednesday, Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director, said the new integrated plant with excellent rail and road connectivity would complement the company's existing network in Eastern India and strengthen presence in important market with supply of environment-friendly blended cement.

Fresh investment of ₹600 crore, he said would be used for setting up five RMC plants, debottlenecking and improving energy efficiency at certain plants.

Cement demand to pick up

Speaking on the sidelines, he said the cement demand is slowly recovering from the impact of currency demonetisation, but the company has already taken special efforts to hook most dealers on the digital payment gateway by installing swipe machines and facilitating online payments in tie-up with banks.

Cement demand, Akhoury said should pick up this year as the economy improves with expectations of accelerated growth in overall consumption across several sectors including construction and building materials. GDP growth should rebound in the second-half of this year, if the country witnesses a normal monsoon.

This, he said coupled with better liquidity and improved tax collection will enhance the government’s ability to spend on infrastructure and development projects leading to faster growth.

Despite diesel price hike pushing up road freight by nine per cent, the company managed to cut distribution cost by one per cent last year by reworking operational strategy through innovative interventions, he said.

“I am certain that once GST is implemented, the combination of digitised economy with more efficient tax system will make India stronger. It supports India's resolve to improve transparency and integrate our economic practices with an objective to realise the development agenda of the country," he said.

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