The company has already identified land in SIDCO industrial estate near Pallavaram in the outskirts of the city and a 60-80 cubic metres per day plant capacity plant will become operational soon.

India Cements is relatively a late entrant in this segment of the cement business in Tamil Nadu. Construction major L&T is currently the only player operational in the state. It set up the unit predominantly to cater to its captive requirements while the surplus quantity is being sold in the market. Madras Cements has already set up the RMC plant but is awaiting final clearences to commence commercial production. Zuari Cements, Fletcher Challange and ACC are other players which have announced plans to set up RMC units in Chennai.

Explaining the reason forits cautious approach, vice-chairman and managing direcor, N Srinivasan said that the RMC industry was still in a nascent stage and uncertainty existed on the demand potential. The unit that is being set up would help in guaging the business potential and also study the viability of the sector. The RMC capacity would be expanded if things were favourable, he said adding that if there was a market, India Cements would have a share of it.

The company is also looking at various options in structuring its RMC business which would form only a small portion of its overall turnover. The options include setting up of the unit by itself like in the case of L&T, Madras Cements, etc, or opting for a franchise system whereby India Cements would lend its brand name to those who are well-placed such as leading builders to run the business. The advantage of such an arragement is that builders are best placed in advising consumers on how to use RMC. A final decision is expected to be taken shortly.