JK Lakshmi Cement plans Rs 3,000 crore Durg capacity expansion

JK Lakshmi Cement Limited plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore in a Durg expansion that will add 4.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of cement capacity, including a 2.30 MTPA clinkerisation line, with the full project expected to be completed by March 2028. JK Lakshmi Cement will fund the project through debt and internal accruals.

What is JK Lakshmi Cement building at Durg?

JK Lakshmi Cement is building a new 2.30 MTPA clinkerisation line and three grinding units with combined cement capacity of 4.6 MTPA at its Durg cement plant. The company described the 4.6 MTPA figure as the total cement capacity of the three grinding units in its 4 November 2026 announcement.

The Durg capacity project is likely to cost Rs 3,000 crore and is expected to be completed by March 2028. JK Lakshmi Cement did not disclose separate commissioning dates for the clinkerisation line or any of the three grinding units, so the stated deadline applies to the entire announced project.

The 4.6 MTPA Durg addition is the largest individually identified element of JK Lakshmi Cement's broader plan for around 7 MTPA of new capacity across six locations. With current combined cement capacity of approximately 18 MTPA, the announced Durg addition represents more than half of the planned capacity additions in its FY2030 roadmap.

How will JK Lakshmi Cement fund the Durg expansion?

JK Lakshmi Cement said the Rs 3,000 crore Durg capacity project will be financed through a mix of debt and internal accruals. It did not disclose the amount to be borrowed, the internal-accrual contribution, lender arrangements, interest costs or a year-by-year spending schedule for the project.

The company separately disclosed a Rs 325 crore railway siding at the Durg plant, for which it specified Rs 225 crore of debt funding. The remaining Rs 100 crore is to come through internal accruals, giving this logistics project a more detailed financing split than the larger Rs 3,000 crore capacity expansion.

JK Lakshmi Cement reported net debt to earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) of 2.31 times in July-September 2026, compared with 1.25 times in July-September 2025. Net debt to equity was 0.51 times in July-September 2026, against 0.38 times a year earlier, while both the Durg expansion and railway siding include debt as a funding source.

What is the status of the Durg railway siding?

JK Lakshmi Cement is constructing a railway siding at its Durg cement plant at a cost of Rs 325 crore, and said the first phase had already been completed as of its 4 November 2026 release. The project is being funded with Rs 225 crore of debt and Rs 100 crore from internal accruals.

The company did not state the scope of the completed first phase, the work remaining in subsequent phases or a date for the siding's full completion. It also did not disclose rail-handling capacity, expected dispatch volumes, freight savings or the relationship between the railway-siding completion schedule and the March 2028 capacity-project deadline.

JK Lakshmi Cement's industry outlook said cement demand was expected to improve in the second half of FY2027 with the peak construction season. It also said elevated petcoke prices and geopolitical uncertainties were likely to keep fuel, freight and packaging costs under pressure, without providing a cost-saving target for the Rs 325 crore siding investment.

How does Durg fit JK Lakshmi Cement's FY2030 capacity plan?

JK Lakshmi Cement said it operates three integrated cement plants and four split-location grinding units, with combined cement capacity of approximately 18 MTPA. Its stated expansion roadmap covers around 7 MTPA of additional capacity across six locations and targets total capacity of approximately 25 MTPA by FY2030.

The Durg project alone would add 4.6 MTPA if completed as planned by March 2028, equivalent to about two-thirds of the company's disclosed 7 MTPA expansion programme. JK Lakshmi Cement did not identify the other five locations, their capacity additions, capital costs or completion schedules in the release.

The company said its existing facilities are located across Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana and Odisha. It was established in 1982 and described itself as having more than four decades of presence in the Indian cement industry, but it did not provide Durg's existing cement capacity before the announced 4.6 MTPA addition.

What do JK Lakshmi Cement's latest results show?

JK Lakshmi Cement reported July-September 2026 sales volume of 29.83 lakh tonnes, up from 28.43 lakh tonnes in July-September 2025. Net sales increased to Rs 1,616.92 crore from Rs 1,531.77 crore, while profit after tax fell to Rs 20.88 crore from Rs 82.33 crore over the same quarter comparison.

For April-September 2026, sales volume rose to 65.81 lakh tonnes from 61.69 lakh tonnes in April-September 2025. Net sales increased to Rs 3,521.70 crore from Rs 3,272.70 crore, but profit before interest, depreciation and tax (PBIDT) declined to Rs 438.26 crore from Rs 568.35 crore and profit after tax decreased to Rs 127.65 crore from Rs 234 crore.

Conclusion

JK Lakshmi Cement has disclosed a defined Durg capital programme comprising Rs 3,000 crore for 4.6 MTPA of cement capacity and Rs 325 crore for a railway siding. The capacity project combines a 2.30 MTPA clinkerisation line with three grinding units and forms the largest named component of its approximately 7 MTPA expansion plan toward about 25 MTPA by FY2030.

The next stated milestone is completion of the full Durg capacity project by March 2028. JK Lakshmi Cement has not disclosed the debt share of the Rs 3,000 crore project, a commissioning sequence for the new units, a completion date for the remaining railway-siding work or details of the other five locations in its six-location expansion programme.