Reliance Cements to open two units in Karnataka

With availability of limestone in sizeable quantity across the North Karnataka districts, there has been a heightened activity in terms of greenfield cement manufacturing and packaging companies in the State. One such major company which intends to set up shop in Karnataka is Reliance Cements.

Reliance will set up two units, one manufacturing and a quarrying unit in Sedam taluk of Gulbarga district and another grinding unit in Gowribidanur taluk.

As per the pre-feasibility Report for the Sedam project, submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Reliance has said that it will be setting up an integrated 5.5 Mtpa cement plant with a 3.6 Mtpa clinker and 75 MW power plant.

It is also setting up a 5 Mtpa limestone mine in Tilkur and Hebal Villages located in the same vicinity. Reliance is expected to complete the project in 24 months, once approved by the Karnataka government.

The company is awaiting the Terms of Reference (TOR) from the MoEF, for which it had applied on April 7.

The project cost is estimated to be Rs 2,600 crore for the Sedam cement plant. For mining activity, Reliance has placed the initial cost at Rs 319 crore. According to the company report, Reliance received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Department of Mines and Geology in Karnataka to mine on 929.12 hectares at Tilkur-Hebal village in Sedam. The mining activity in the leased area is scheduled to be for five million tonnes of limestone. The LoI was granted to Reliance cement on July 30, 2010.

Reliance has said that it was given the options to choose between five locations. This included sites in Sedam rural, Lohra and Hayal, Satpatanhali and Yadahalli and between Hebal and Halokra.

Finally, based on several parameters including the availability of surface and ground water for the plant from Kagina river, the company has zeroed-in on Sedam rural.

Water requirement for the plant is placed at 4750 kilolitres per day (KLD)
The plant is estimated to provide 110 direct and 2,000 indirect employment during the construction phase. Government officials state that requisition for land acquisition is yet to be processed.

In Gowribidanur, Reliance Cements will start a 3 Mtpa cement grinding unit at an estimated cost of Rs 690 crore. The project is proposed on a 34.39 ha of land near Kudumalakunte village of Gowribidanur taluk. The requisited Manpower for the  proposed unit is placed at approximately 1000 persons during construction phase and 147 persons during operational phase.

Reliance in its report has said that the target region for the plant, to supply cement, is spread across the five states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. In Karnataka, the company is estimating that there will be a demand for no less than 20.5 million tonnes for cement vis-a-vis a supply of 28.2 million tonnes.

Apart from Reliance, recent industry approvals have been given for various cement manufacturing and packaging projects to ACC, Rajashree and Shree Cements in the state.