It is destination Rayalaseema, especially Kurnool district for cement majors. UltraTech, owned by Aditya Birla Group and Ramco Cements have committed to set up ‘greenfield’ units in the district.

The State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) of Andhra Pradesh recently cleared proposals worth ₹9,200 crore from these two cement biggies. In addition to the proposed units in Petnikota (Aditya Birla) and Kolimigundla (Ramco) in Kurnool, another unit at Dachepalli of Guntur district (Aditya Birla) was also given the go-ahead.

The total capacity of these three units is expected to be about 12 million tonnes a year. The potential employment generation is around 4,000.

Timely move

The Government will provide railway siding facility between Sanjamala and Kolimigundla over a distance of 20 km. The positive developments come at a time when the growth in the cement sector has been sluggish and capacities of most of the companies and finances have been under strain in the past few quarters in both the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. There are over 40 cement plants in these States with a total installed capacity of 80 mt. At present, the capacity utilisation levels are only at 50-55 per cent.

What are the drivers for this optimism among cement majors to head to Kurnool? Industry experts point out to a few advantages of this to Kurnool — once the capital of Andhra Pradesh (1953-56).

Untapped resources

Kurnool district holds huge, untapped limestone deposits. The district has also seen significant improvements in rail (conversion to broad gauge) and highway roads connectivity to move the commodity. Above all, the huge demand of the building material expected to build the infrastructure for the new capital of AP and the expected tax incentives are big lures.

According to Andhra Pradesh Mines Department data, large bands of cement grade limestone have been identified in the Kurnool district. Reserves of cement grade limestone in this area are of the order of 20 mt, especially between Nandyal and Dhone region of the district.

The district also enjoys political and location advantages vis-a-vis other Rayalaseema districts. The present Deputy Chief Minister KE Krishnamurthy is a political heavyweight.

Kadapa seems to be losing out this time on two counts. The Opposition leader, YS Jaganmohan Reddy (YSR Congress President) hails from there and promoted Bharati Cements and about half a dozen units exist already. Chittoor hardly has any limestone, while Anantapur, the fourth district, has UltraTech, Penna and BMM cements.

At present, the major players are JSW Cement, Maha Cement, Priya and Panyam around Nandyal and Dhone, which are in the vicinity of 50 km from Kurnool city, which is well connected to neighbouring capital cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Vijayawada and Chennai (all in 250-350 km range).

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