Ambuja Cements, part of Swiss building material major Holcim group (Earlier LafargeHolcim) on Monday said it will invest Rs 310 crore to expand the production capacity of its plant at Ropar, Punjab, over the next two years. The said investment is a part of Ambuja Cements Ltd (ACL) aim to have a total cement capacity to 50 MTPA (million tonne per annum) in the mid-term and in anticipation of a growing demand for cement triggered by the steady growth in India's urbanisation leading to more investment in public infrastructure and housing, the company said in a statement.

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The expansion at the Ropar plant is expected to be completed by June 2023 and after this total capacity of the cement grinding unit at Ropar will increase to 4.5 MTPA from 3 MTPA now, it added. "This expansion will help the company maintain its share and competitiveness in the northern markets in India. The Ropar brownfield expansion is part of the company's strategy to increase its total cement capacity to 50 MTPA in the mid-term," said Ambuja Cements.

Ambuja Cements MD and CEO Neeraj Akhoury said the company is optimistic about the growth in demand for cement in India. "The expansion of our Ropar unit along with more investment in the coming years will help us unlock fresh opportunities by debottlenecking of existing capacities and create new ones across the country. We expect our expansion plans to add around 15 MTPA capacity in the mid-term taking our total cement capacity to 50 MTPA”, he said.

Ambuja will also be commissioning new capacity in Marwar, Rajasthan, that will enhance clinker capacity by 3 MTPA and help increase cement sales by 5 MTPA, thereby contributing to the long term strategy of capacity expansion.

This greenfield integrated plant is being set up with a total investment of Rs 2,350 crore. Ambuja Cement has a cement capacity of 29.65 MTPA with five integrated cement manufacturing plants and eight cement grinding units across the country.