Birla Corporation, the M P Birla flagship company, said on Tuesday,  that it intends to pump in close to Rs 1,200 crore to nearly double the cement production capacity to 10 million tonne by 2010 and exceed a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore by March 2008.
Braving a volley of queries from shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting here, Birla Corp Chairman R S Lodha declared that the company will set up a greenfield plant and expand the capacities at its existing units at Chanderia and Satna, however he declined to divulge where the new plant will be located.
Mr Lodha also said the company board will finalise the expansion plans very soon. Birla Corp reported a Rs 1,794.51 crore revenue in 2006-07. According to Mr Lodha, armed with a positive liquidity scenario and a “high borrowing capacity”, Birla Corporation is ‘well-equipped’ to set up greenfield units. The expansion at existing units would envisage an additional capacity of 1.75 million tonne, which is expected to be completed by 2009. The current installed capacity of the company is 5.78MT.
Road ahead
Birla Corporation, Mr Lodha said, is also exploring the possibility of acquisition of smaller units, provided it makes “a commercial proposition”. The cement business of the company presently contributes more than 92 per cent of its annual turnover.
The chairman said the company may also explore the possibility of venturing into the real estate arena, since the sector is currently witnessing a rapid growth  in India.