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Ambuja Cements Ltd is a major cement producing company in India. The principal activity of the company is to manufacture and market cement and clinker for both domestic and export markets. The company has five integrated cement manufacturing plants and eight cement grinding units. The company subsidiaries include Kakinada Cements Ltd, M.G.T Cements (Pvt) Ltd and Chemical Limes Mundwa (Pvt) Ltd.
Ambuja Cements Ltd was incorporated in the year 1981 as Ambuja Cements Pvt Ltd. The company was established as a joint venture between the public sector Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation (GIIC) and Narottam Sekhsaria & Associates. In May 19, 1983, the company was rehabilitated into a public limited company. Also, they changed their name to Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd.
In the year 1985, the company set up a cement plant up in technical collaboration with Krupp Polysius, Germany, Bakau Wolf and Fuller KCP. During the year 1988-89, the company commissioned the 12.6 MW diesel-generating sets. In the year 1991, they got necessary approvals for setting up another cement plant with 1 million tonne capacity per annum at Himachal Pradesh. The company undertook bulk cement transportation, by sea, to the major markets of Mumbai, Surat and other deficit zones on the West Coast.
In the year 1997, the company started commercial production in Kodinar plant with an enhanced capacity. In the year 1998, they set up a $20 million clinker Grinding unit in Sri Lanka. In the year 2000, giants Larsen & Tubro (L&T) and Gujarat Ambuja Cements entered a unique agreement to reduce transportation costs in dispatching bulk cement in Gujarat. Also, they entered into an annual contract with a Soinhalese firm, Mahaveli Marine Cement, to supply around 2.5 lakh tonnes of cement.
In the year 2002, the company started commercial production at Maratha Cement Works plant. In June 2002, they started commercial production in the new 2-million tonne Greenfield cement plant at Chandrapur, Maharashtra. In the year 2004, Ambuja Cement Rajasthan was amalgamated with the company.
In February 2005, the company set up a cement mill with a capacity of 80 TPH at Darlaghat and commenced commercial production. They commissioned a captive thermal power plant with two 12 MW Steam Turbo Generators (STG), with two boilers of 45 TPH capacity each at a cost of Rs.94 crore. The first STG was commissioned in February 2005 and the second in May 2005.
In July 2005, Indo-Nippon Special Cements Ltd, a subsidiary company was amalgamated with the company. The company set up new clinker capacity at Bhatapara in Chattisgarh and Rauri in Himachal Pradesh, each having a capacity of 2.2 million tonnes per annum cost of 1600 crore. The company changed their name from Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd to Ambuja Cement Ltd in the year 2007.
The company commenced commercial production at two new 2.2 million tonne clinker production lines, at Bhatapara (Chattisgarh) and Rauri (HP) in December 2009 and January 2010 respectively. In February 24, 2010, the company inaugurated their cement plant (grinding unit) at Dadri, Uttar Pradesh with the capacity of 1.5 million tonnes. In March 27, 2010, they inaugurated their cement plant (grinding unit) at Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh with the capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.
During the year, the company commissioned an additional 30 MW captive power unit at Ambujanagar (Gujarat). In October 2010, the company signed an agreement with the Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation, to set up a 2.2 million tonne clinkerisation unit in Nagaur district. In December 2010, the Dadri Grinding Unit in its very first year of operation received the Integrated Management System (IMS) Certification, including ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004, and OHSAS 18001:2007 by BSI (U.K.).
In the year 2011, the company started commercial production in a new cement mill at a cost of approx Rs 185 crore at Bhatapara plant. Also, they commissioned a new cement mill of 0.9 million tonne cement grinding capacity at Maratha Cement Works plant at a cost of approx Rs 61 crore.
The company commissioned a 7.5 MW Wind Mill project in Kutch, Gujarat at a cost of Rs 46 crore. The company increased the installed capacity in Bhatinda grinding unit in Punjab by 0.1 million tonne to reach at 0.6 million tonne. Also, they increased the installed capacity in Farraka grinding unit in West Bengal by 0.25 million tonne to reach at 1.25 million tonnes.
In June 2011, the company made strategic investments in Dang Cement Industries Pvt. Ltd, Nepal and acquired 85% shareholding for Rs 19.13 crore to help further expansion of capacity in the northern region of India and Nepal. In September 2011, they acquired 60% shareholding in Dirk India Pvt Ltd, Maharashtra Rs 16.51 crore. The company entered into a joint venture for speciality cement manufacturing facility in Goa with Counto Microfine Products Pvt Ltd.
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