India Cements has reportedly acquired a coal mine in Indonesia, which is expected to go on stream by January 2012, for USD 20 million.

According to reports, India Cements is also in the process of setting up a 50 MW power plant near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.

Mr N Srinivasan vice CMD of India Cements was quoted as saying that “The coal mine acquisition is a strategic decision, it will reduce our exposure to the fluctuating coal price internationally. Despite a 4% fall in demand across south India, the company managed to post good profit. Its capacity utilization was around 68%, due to the excess capacity in South India, which is currently around 100 million tonnes.”

Sluggish growth of cement, increase in fuel and power cost, higher interest rate is the concern of the company and the industry as well. While the input cost have increased 7% to 8%, output cost rose only 2%.

(Sourced from India Infoline News Service)