Ultratech Cement plans Rs 1,500 cr capex in FY21

"Your company has planned total capex cash outlay of Rs 1,500 crore for a range of key initiatives," he informed the shareholders. This will include spends on installing 66 MW of waste heat recovery systems (WHRS), 1.2 million tonnes per annum brownfield cement capacity addition in West Bengal and Bihar, pending work for phase 2 of Bara grinding unit in Uttar Pradesh, coal block development in Madhya Pradesh, new ready mix concrete plants and other plant upkeep capex, he said.

Largest cement manufacturer Ultratech Cement has lined up investment of Rs 1,500 crore in FY21 in multiple initiatives, its chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Wednesday. The company is also targeting to increase its annual capacity to 118 million tonnes from 114.8 million tonnes currently, he informed the company's shareholders during its virtual annual general meeting.

Birla, who heads the diversified conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, said periods of turmoil create champions, adding that Ultratech has the capacity, leadership across markets and a strong balance sheet to emerge as one. "Your company has planned total capex cash outlay of Rs 1,500 crore for a range of key initiatives," he informed the shareholders.

This will include spends on installing 66 MW of waste heat recovery systems (WHRS), 1.2 million tonnes per annum brownfield cement capacity addition in West Bengal and Bihar, pending work for phase 2 of Bara grinding unit in Uttar Pradesh, coal block development in Madhya Pradesh, new ready mix concrete plants and other plant upkeep capex, he said. The consolidated cement capacity will stand augmented to 118 million tonnes per annum, and green power capacity will increase to 185 MW for WHRS and over 350 MW for solar and wind power, he said.

Birla said the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns had resulted in temporary halting of operations of the company, across locations, as per government directives, but started back soon with a set of standard operating protocols designed in-house. He said urban areas have suffered a severe impact of the pandemic, while the economic disruption in rural economy appears to be less severe.

The ongoing FY21 will be a "challenging year", but growth will come back in the next fiscal, he said, exuding confidence of attaining a growth rate between 6-8 per cent in FY22. Birla said the company was able to reduce costs by 21 per cent in the June quarter as compared to the same period a year-ago and also reduced its net debt by Rs 2,209 crore during the April-June period on the back of working capital management and control on cash flows.

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