Ambuja Cements to Line Up 14.5k cr for Next Growth Leg

Our Bureau Mumbai: Ambuja Cements, the country's second-largest cement producer, on Monday said it will invest 14,500 crore to increase its production capacity by 30 million tonnes, or about a quarter, to 155 million tonnes by FY30. In 2022, the Adani Group-owned company said it was targeting 140 million tonnes of capacity by the end of FY28.

In November last year, the company revised the target to 155 million tonnes and then pushed the timeline to FY30 in May this year, saying it is looking to squeeze more out of its existing assets. Ambuja Cements CEO Vinod Bahety was quoted in a statement as saying that the company's "next phase of expansion is focused on quality of growth and creating a more balanced manufacturing network". "By strengthening the link between clinker and grinding capacity and expanding closer to the high growth potential key markets, we are building greater flexibility into the network," he said.

Apart from increasing market share, these capacities will also help in reducing manufacturing cost by bringing higher efficiencies, Bahety said. In this growth leg, the Adani Group's own cement arm, Adani Cement, will add capacities across Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

It has 24 integrated plants and 24 grinding units, totalling a capacity of 113.5 million tonnes. Aditya Birla Group-owned UltraTech Cement, the country's largest cement producer, has a production capacity of over 200 million tonnes. It is targeting a capacity of over 240 million tonnes by the end of FY28.

In the first half of the current fiscal year, Adani Cement added 4.6 million tonnes of production capacity. Total capacity is expected to reach 119 million tonnes by March next year, with another 5.6 million tonnes expected to come on board in the second half of the year. The Adani Group had forayed into the Indian cement space in 2022 after it purchased Ambuja Cements and ACC.