JK Cement signs Rs 150 cr contract with Danish firm

Mumbai, Nov 15 (UNI) Cement giant, JK Cement, has signed a Rs 150 crore contract with Denmark-based company, FL Smidth&Co AS for supplying machinery and equipment.

Work on the 30 lakh tonne greenfield plant of the company at Karnataka will start from next month, a company's release here today said.

J K Cement is targeting the markets of Maharashtra, Karnataka and some pockets of Andhra Pradesh, through its Karnataka plant. Eighty per cent of the factory land has already been acquired at Mudhol in the Bagalkot district of the state and the entire factory and mining land will be acquired by March. The plant, with a 30 lakh tonnes per year capacity, is expected to come on stream in the second half of 2008.

Other than FL Smidth, the other companies roped in for equipment supply is Switzerland-based MAAG for gearboxes, BHEL for motors and L&T for Crusher. Down payments against the orders has already been made. The total expenditure on the project is estimated around Rs 900 crore.

J K Cement recently bought over group company Jaykaycem Ltd for the Karnataka venture. Jaykaycem Ltd possesses the mining rights of lime stone with proven reserves of 82 million tonnes, equivalent to 30 years production requirement.

Work on the company's power projects at their existing plant at Nimbahera in Rajasthan is also likely to be completed on schedule, with the 10 MW Turbine to be commissioned by the year-end, while the Petcoke based power plant and waste heat recovery plant should be completed by April next year and June 2007, respectively. The company expects substantial savings in power cost after implementation of these projects.

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