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Birla Corporation mulling cement plant in Ethiopia

Jun, 29 2012

(Ethiopia)  -- Birla Corporation, a flagship company of the M P Birla Group, is planning to set up its first overseas cement plant in Ethiopia.

"We are mulling overseas plans. We have already set up a subsidiary to apply for the required licences," company chairman Harsh V Lodha said.

The company has formed a wholly-owned subsidiary, Birla Corp Cement Manufacturing Plc, in Ethiopia.  The company has also bagged the licence for limestone mining and has applied for a coal mining permit there.  

The Jodhpur High Court banned limestone mining at Birla’s Chanderia plant in Rajasthan in August last year. This has led to the company scouting for overseas ventures, since the company's performance has been affected as it is procuring raw materials from distant areas for the Chanderia Cement plant.

The company increased the capacity of the Chanderia plant by 1.2 million tonnes in March.

Once the Kolkata-based company gets the coal mining permit, it would conduct a market study to plan its next move. Besides Ethipia, the company is also looking at other overseas ventures.

However, Lodha did not disclose the details.

By: Rashmi Kalia (ARI-C NEWS)

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