The Hindu Business Line : Century Textiles expanding cement biz

THE Rs 2800-crore Century Textiles & Industries Ltd, a B.K. Birla Group company, is expanding its cement business by setting up a stand-alone grinding unit in West Bengal.

According to a senior official of the BK Birla Group, the company is currently purchasing land in the northern part of West Bengal. The proposed plant would produce Century branded cement.

The cost of the entire project has been pegged at Rs 220 crore. When asked about the funding mechanism, the official said: "Century is a cash-rich organisation. For it Rs 220 crore would not a big amount", the official said.

Still, he added that the project might be funded partially through debt and internal accruals. Once the land is bought the company would initiate the process of the completing the necessary formalities.

However, the capacity of the proposed grinding unit or amount of the land Century Textiles is buying is not known. Sources said that the Mumbai office of Century Textile is handling the entire matter.

Century Textiles, which has interests in paper and chemicals, apart from textiles, would bring clinker from its Maihar unit at Madhya Pradesh for this grinding unit. Here it would be either mixed with fly-ash or slag (generated in the steel plants) to produce cement.

Cement is the largest revenue earner for Century Textiles. Its share in the company's total earning is well over 40 per cent. In the last financial year, 2004-05, the cement business was worth Rs 1,144 crore against the company's total turnover of Rs 2,805 crore. It marked a share of 41 per cent.

In the third quarter of 2005-06, share of cement revenue increased further to 47 per cent. Out of the total turnover of Rs 638 crore, cement business' share was Rs 298.88 crore.

In Maihar, Century Textiles has two cement units. Apart from that it has two more plants at Baikunth in Chattisgarh and at Chandrapur in Maharashtra. The total cement capacity of the company is over six million tonnes per annum.