Birla Corporation, the flagship of M.P. Birla Group, has suspended limestone mining at Chittorgarh following the Rajasthan High Court's order to stop mining within 10 km of the Chittorgarh Fort.

The company, which has varied business interest in cement, jute goods, PVC floor covering, auto trim parts and iron and steel casting, plans to dip into its limestone inventory that is sufficient to maintain production at the Chanderia cement plant for 6-7 days.

The Rajasthan High Court has directed that no mining take place in the mining leases within 10 km of the Fort.

In view of the order, the mining of limestone has been suspended, said Birla Corporation in a statement. It plans to take necessary legal measures for revocation of the order, the company said.

Birla Corporation has an installed cement manufacturing capacity of 6.46 million tonnes a year through seven cement plants in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. It produced 5.69 million tonnes of cement last fiscal.

The cement division of the company also operates two coal-based captive power plants at Satna (27 MW) and Chanderia (29.8 MW). Besides tapping the domestic market, the company exports large quantities of cement to Nepal.

Huge reserves

Rajasthan has extensive cement grade limestone reserves. Chittorgarh is the main cement producing district in Rajasthan. Most of the cement plants are located close to limestone mines as it is one of the key raw materials used for producing cement. Major cement companies in Rajasthan include Shree Cement, Ambuja Cement, ACC, Bangur Cement, Binani Cement and Laxmi Cement.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW