JP Associates to invest Rs 4,500-cr in cement project

Jaypee Group firm Jaiprakash (JP) Associates will invest Rs 4,500 crore to take its cement manufacturing capacity from 20 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 33 mtpa by 2012. The company's current capacity is 15 mtpa that will go up to 20 mtpa in the next 2-3 months for which most of the investments have been made.

Additional funds would be raised to meet the capacity targets. The company's first joint-venture cement plant with Steel Authority of India will be commissioned by March with a capacity of 2.2 mtpa. Its second JV plant with the steel major would be operational by July 2011 in Bokaro in Jharkhand with capacity of 2.1 mtpa. The other cement plants by the company are coming up in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.