Vicat to invest $250mn to boost capacity

French cement maker Vicat Group, which entered India a decade ago, is seeking to raise its capacity by more than 50 per cent in three years but would not chase volumes to enhance its shelf-space presence in the world's second-biggest market for the building material. The Indian arm of the €2.5-billion Vicat Group has outlined an investment of €223 million (Rs 1,735 crore) over the next four years to strengthen its presence in the south and west. It will also seek to enter the east, CEO of Vicat India, Anoop Kumar Saxena, said at the inauguration of a 1.2-million tonne bulk cement terminal in Mumbai this week. Vicat would seek to enhance its capacity to 13 million tonnes by 2021, but the company is in no rush to increase sales at the cost of profitability. Saxena added: “The pricing right now is not good...but we have no pressure to sell at a cheap price. We will not sell at a cheap price, but we can sell less.” Vicat will be adding a second line of 2.75 million tonnes to its Kalburgi facility as well as a grinding unit of 1.7 million tonnes in Vizag, which will also supply to the east. It has also acquired a 51 per cent stake in the 5.5 MT Bharathi Cement. Its current capacity stands at 8.25 MT.