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Our Bureau

Chennai, June 27

The India Cements Ltd, the south-based cement manufacturer is expanding aggressively in markets in western India. Supporting the brand-building exercise in its market expansion is the Chennai Super Kings, its BCCI-IPL franchise, which earned the company Rs 76 crore in the first season.

Mr N. Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, India Cements, said that the company has commissioned a grinding unit at Parli, Maharashtra, which has given it better reach in the markets in western India. Earlier, its reach was restricted to a couple of districts in the State but with the setting up of the new mill the company reaches two-thirds of the State.

Hoardings for the company’s Coromandel brand of cement with pictures of M.S. Dhoni, the CSK’s captain, and Suresh Raina, a star player, have been put up.

The company had bid for the Indian Premier League franchise, floated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India last year. The brand visibility and recall would help India Cements build its cement brand as it expands into new markets.

India Cements’ officials said that the company’s brands (Coromandel, Sankar and Rasi) were household names in the South. But in Maharashtra, where it is a new entrant, the Coromandel cement bags sport the tag line, ‘from the house of Chennai Super Kings.’

The company is confident that CSK would give it the impetus as it expands into the markets in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in the coming years.

Driving this market expansion would be the 1.5-mt production capacity planned in Rajasthan. This plant is expected to go onstream in mid-2010. The launch is likely to coincide with the third season of IPL.

Meanwhile, the franchise which India Cements bagged with a bid of Rs 360 crore, has started earning for the company. India Cements earned over Rs 76 crore from sponsors and its share of payment from BCCI during the first season (the T-20 matches that were held in 2008).

Announcing the company’s results for 2008-09, Mr Srinivasan said that of the Rs 76 crore, Rs 63 crore was earned during the year. The other Rs 13 crore was earned in the previous year.

More Stories on : Outlook | Promotions & Offers | Brands | Cement

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