JSW plans to raise cement capacity without raising cost.

Aims to bring down cost by as much as three-fourths by setting up grinding units closer to markets JSW Cement, a unit of Sajjan Jindal-led JSW group, plans to bring down its cement-making cost by as much as three-fourths by setting up grinding units closer to markets, in contrast to the traditional model of clinker units placed near the source of raw material.

According to the plan, a brainchild of Harvard Business School-trained JSW scion Parth Jindal, the new units will use clinker imported from countries that have a surplus, thus allowing JSW Cement to add 1 tonne of capacity at about Rs. 180 crore, against Rs. 840 crore required to set up a similar capacity under the traditional model.

The company plans to establish several such grinding units on the country's east coast in West Bengal and Odisha, taking its cement capacity up by more than 14 million tonne (mt) to 20 mt by 2020. 'Our novel model involves setting up inexpensive grinding facilities closer to the markets rather than building cost-intensive clinker units closer to the raw material reserves,' Parth Jindal, son of group chairman Sajjan Jindal, told ET.

ET