UltraTech Cement to buy grinding unit from India Cements for ₹315 crore

UltraTech Cement on Saturday, April 20, said its board of directors has given the nod to purchase a grinding unit 1.1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) capacity from India Cements, for a “consideration of ₹315 crore”.

“…the Board of Directors at its meeting held today, approved purchase of a grinding unit having installed capacity of 1.1 mtpa in addition to a captive railway siding, at Parli, Maharashtra from The India Cements Limited,” it said in a regulatory filing.

This purchase will help the company to strengthen its presence in the rapidly growing Maharashtra markets, the exchange filing added.

Capex push

Earlier, on April 2, the Aditya Birla Group-owned cement maker said it would be investing ₹32,400 crore towards capital expenditure over the next three-year period.

“It took 36 years for the cement business of the Aditya Birla Group, to get to a capacity of 100 mtpa. And UltraTech has subsequently added the next 50 mtpa in less than 5 years with an investment of around Rs. 32,000 crores. Over the past two decades, UltraTech has grown 11x, far outpacing the industry growth of 4x,” it added.

The company, on April 2, also announced the commissioning of two new greenfield capacities totaling 5.4 mtpa in the states of Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu, taking UltraTech’s total cement capacity to 151.6 mtpa. “This capacity is more than 150% of the capacity in the United States and 80% of Europe's capacity,” it claimed.

Shares of UltraTech settled flat at ₹9,363.95 on the NSE on April 19.