The Hindu Business Line : Barak Valley Cements looking to raise Rs 40-50 cr from IPO

Barak Valley Cements Ltd (BVCL), a North-East based cement company, is looking to raise Rs 40-50 crore from its IPO to fund a slew of expansion initiatives.

The company, promoted by three North-East based entrepreneurs, plans to raise current capacity of cement production from 460 tonnes a day to 600 tonnes.

It is also in the process of putting up a biomass-based power station of 6 MW capacity close to the plant site.

BVCL, which manufactures ordinary Portland cement and Pozzolona Portland cement, is planning to put up a clinker-grinding unit with a capacity of 300 tonnes a day.

The company's production facilities in Badarpurghat, near Silchar, include laboratory facilities and employees around 400 people. Besides this, it also has a limestone crushing plant in Meghalaya.

"Taking advantage of the tax incentives schemes in the North-East, the company is looking at getting into the steel business with plans to set up a re-rolling plant in the future. It would use surplus power from its proposed power station to run the steel plant," said Mr Kamakhya Chamaria, Managing Director.

On the cement front, the company estimates a 1.5-million-tonne gap in demand and supply situation in the 2.4-million-tonne-a-year cement market in the North-Eastern States and plans to capitalise on the business opportunity in the region, which includes hydel projects being set up by NHPC, Jaiprakash Hydro, and others.Valley Strong Cement and Valley Strong Super are the company's main brands.