Acquisition of JP's cement capacity a good long-term move by Dalmia

Consolidation in the cement industry continues with Dalmia Bharat buying the cement, clinker and power plants of Jaiprakash Associates (JP) with a cement capacity of 9.4 million tonnes (MT), along with clinker capacity of 6.7 MT and thermal power plants with generation capacity of 280 MW. The plants are situated in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The transaction is for an enterprise value of Rs 5,666 crore and it was done through the group subsidiary, Dalmia Cement.

While JP views this as a deleveraging exercise, it is part of Dalmia's group strategy of creating a pan-India footprint, with an eventual capacity of 131 MT (by the 2030-31 financial year or FY31) and a FY27 target of 75 MT. This