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Indo Rama to fortify slag cement brand
Indo Rama Cement Ltd is a leading manufacturer of slag cement in western India. The company's slag cement under the brand name 'Commando' is all set to become its flagship brand. Commando is specifically designed special Portland cement for all-purpose construction. It has been developed to cater to the construction industry in the coastal belt of Mumbai and adjoining regions to combat the aggressive saline environment while retaining all the attributes of good cement. It is manufactured by intimate and uniform blending of separately ground granulated blast furnace slag and clinker.
Indo Rama uses a component, namely Slag, available as a by-product from Ispat Steel Plant at Alibag, as one of the components of Indo Rama cement. Compared to the traditional supporting components along with limestone, the main component, the use of slag is the latest buzzword, says P.C. Nalwaya, the company's Vice President (Cement Business). The Ispat plant has already planned to increase its production manifold in the near future.
A cement containing slag remains stronger and corrosion-free in humid weather like that in Mumbai and other sea towns. This type of cement protects the steel components, the prime support, in any building or bridge structure against corrosion, particularly in humid and wet weather. At the same time the price of conventional and slag cement is almost the same.
Indo Rama Cement Ltd expects to utilise its Pen plant's full installed production capacity of 1 million tonnes within the next two to three years, according to Nalwaya.
The anticipated rise in the domestic and export market for cement and the growing production of Ispat Steel are factors that will facilitate Indo Rama's full capacity utilisation, currently about 60 to 70 per cent (6-7 lakh tonnes), Nalwaya said.
Commenting on the current trend of smaller cement companies being taken over by bigger companies in India, like Grasim's takeover of L&T Cement, Nalwaya said, "There is nothing wrong in that as the same trend prevails all over the world. Globally, nearly 80 per cent of cement production capacity is owned by about 10 giant companies compared to some 60 different manufacturers of cement in India."
"In any case, consolidation of production capacity through takeovers by local or foreign companies is good for healthy competition; it also improves production quality considerably," he averred.
Indo Rama to fortify slag cement brand
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