Ultratech Cement has initiated steps to set up a Rs 2,500-crore greenfield cement plant in Tamil Nadu, according to reliable sources.

The public hearing for the project was conducted in May as part of the environment impact assessment and management plan. The preliminary work on the environment clearances is on.

The Aditya Birla Group company plans to set up a 5.5-million-tonne-a-year cement plant with 4.5-mt clinker production, 75 MW captive power plant (with additional power from diesel generating sets of about 18 MW) and a waste heat recovery facility of about 15 MW.

The factory will have two production lines of 2.25 million tonnes each. The total project area is about 263 hectares with a plant area of about 86 ha.

The company is among the largest cement producers in India with a total annual capacity of about 52 million tonnes distributed across 11 cement plants.

According to sources, while the actual investment could take time, the company’s decision to go ahead with environment clearances — a process that could take over a year or more — is an indication of its long-term plans. Ultratech has been mulling plans for a Tamil Nadu factory for quite some time and has now taken it forward.

Ultratech’s factory will add to the 36 million tonnes of cement production capacity in Tamil Nadu.

balaji.ar@thehindu.co.in

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