Odisha based Shiva Cement Ltd, 59% owned by JSW Cement Ltd., will invest more than ₹1,500 crore in a 1.36 million-tonne clinker unit in Sundergarh district of the State. The company would fund this investment through a combination of long-term debt worth ₹1,150 crore and equity worth ₹350 crore.This project also includes setting up of a 1 MTPA grinding unit, 8 MW waste heat recovery power plant, 4 MTPA crushing plants at its dolomite and limestone mines, 10-km-long overland belt conveyor to transport limestone from the mines to the manufacturing plant and own railway siding with a 12-km-long railway track up to Sagra Railway Station to ensure seamless transportation of finished goods to the market. The company’s current grinding capacity is 0.25 million tonne. It has already received some of the regulatory and statutory approvals and is on track to obtain other necessary clearances, top company officials said.Once commissioned, this clinker unit will service JSW Cement’s manufacturing facilities across the eastern region and is expected to create about 500 direct and indirect jobs, they added.Consequently, Shiva Cement is expected to become a strategic hub for JSW Cement’s operations in the region, they said. “We, as a group, are deeply committed to Odisha and its development,” said Parth Jindal, managing director, JSW Cement Ltd.“Through this investment, we hope to contribute to the overall economic development of Odisha and create jobs,” he added.“The new clinker unit at Shiva Cements will provide a strategic advantage to service the needs of our customers in the region and further strengthen JSW Cement’s leadership in the ‘green cement’ category in India. We expect to commission the clinker unit by the end of next fiscal,” he said.For JSW Cement, the new clinker unit is a part of its strategic roadmap to achieve 25 MTPA capacity by 2025 from the current 14 MTPA, with a special focus on scaling up its presence in the East. JSW Cement has a capital investment plan worth ₹3,600 crore. Besides, the company is planning to raise ₹2,500 crore to ₹2,700 crore through an IPO by December 2022.
