SCL executive vice chairman Jay Mehta in a press release said that the construction of a modern jetty to facilitate rapid transhipment of goods through sea route was also on at Porbandar at a cost of Rs 65 crores and was expected to be completed by December 1999. The Gujarat Sidhee Cement Ltd (GSCL) plant at Sidheegram near Veraval, set up on an 1,000-acre plot, has also emerged as one of the state's largest single point cement plants.

Referring to recent newspaper reports regarding possible takeover by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), he said the reports were baseless and incorrect. He said the SCL has not entered into any such negotiations either with L&T or any other company, nor has anyintention of doing so in near future.

Both the plants have made notable achievements on several fronts, including winning Kohinoor Ratna and Udyog Awards and President's Award respectively for excellence in production, management and sales.

SCL has been able to bring down the power consumption to 90 from 109 units for production of 1 kg clinker, the usa of fuel to 771 from 620 kcal and air pollution level from 18 to 8 per cent by adopting specialised techniques from PMT Austria. Similarly, GSCL has implemented computer technology developed by FL Smith of Denmark.