Announcement of IFC Invests in Fifty-Five Million Fifty Thousand US Dollars Cement Project in India on September 28, 1983

1818 H Street, N.W. International Finance Corporation Washington, o.c. 20433, u.s.A: FOR RELEASE: September 28, · 1983 CONTACT: Donald Roessner (202) 676-0394 Press Release No. 84/10 IFC Invests in $55.5 Million Cement Project in India The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is helping to finance a· 500,,000 metric tons-a-year cement venture in India being implemented by The Gwalior Rayon Silk Manufacturing (Weaving) Co. Ltd. 11 Gwalior is an established company with operations in the textile, chemical and engineering sectors. Its stock is widely held by more than 71,000 shareholders. The company will build the plant at Khor, State of Madhya Pradesh, in weste;;,h India. The plant will rely on coal as its main power source and use modern, dry-process, energy-efficient technology. The project also includes construction of roads, rail sidings, an electrical substation and other utilities, laboratory, workshop, service facilities, an administration building and housing for over 400 workers. IFC, an international organization that assists developing member countries by supporting the growth of their private sect01;!,,, is lending DMl 1 million ($4.6 million equivalent) for the project. A DMll million loan is being made by Citibank and Indian commercial banks are lending $9.4 million equivalerlt. The balance of the fi11,ancing is expected to be provided through ihternal cash generation. The venture' s produc.tion will ,help ease a deficit in India's cemerft output and result in estimated net foreign exchange savings to the country of more than $l~O million over the life of the project. It will also benefit the econo,my by creating some 500 jobs. Gwalior' 1is the third Indian cement prod,ect assisted by IFC in the past two yeiirs. In 1981, the Corporation helped finance a 1 million tons-a-year o.peration in Andhra Pradesh and last year it made a loan for a 500,000 tons-a-year cement plant iri Karnataka State. India has a comparative advantage in the production of cement because the local capital goods industry can manufacture a major part of the equipment at attractive prices and all major raw materials are a~ailable locally.