Shree Cement Ltd on Friday said that it has commenced trial production at its new cement grinding unit of 3 million tonnes (MTPA) capacity in the Purulia district of West Bengal. The total investment in the unit is around ₹550 crore, which the group has entirely funded through internal accruals.

The Purulia grinding unit marks the company’s first production facility in West Bengal and is part of the several new investments announced by the group in the recent past, said a press statement issued by the company.

With the setting up of this plant, the group’s total cement production capacity stands increased to around 50 million tonnes per annum. The company is looking to scale its cement capacity to nearly 80 million tonnes over the next few years. With the commencement of the production in West Bengal, the company’s total plants for cement production in India now stand at 15. The project is expected to provide employment (both direct and indirect) to more than 1,250 people in the State.

This new plant will provide a strategic advantage to Shree Cement for serving the growing cement demand in the states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. This facility will not only help faster and more efficient cement supplies to its customers but can produce several product variants. The greenfield plant has started trial production, supporting the company’s existing strong volume growth in eastern India.

“We have started trial production of our plant in Purulia, which will help us strengthen our presence in the fast-growing West Bengal and Jharkhand markets. The plant has also allowed us to bring more jobs to West Bengal as well as showcase our advanced production systems which meet stringent environment norms. We are determined to reach more than 80 million tonnes cement capacity at an accelerated pace over the next years,” Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director, Shree Cement, said in the statement.

The company’s scrip was trading at ₹23,920.30 on the BSE on Friday, down by 0.54 per cent from its previous close.

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