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MCL is the flagship company of the Ramco group. MCL was incorporated in 1957 and commenced production on its first cement plant in Tamil Nadu in 1961. The plant had a capacity of 200 tpd and operated on wet process technology. The capacity has been increased several fold and the plant has undergone several rounds of modernization. MCL has placed significant emphasis on high operating efficiency and labour productivity. MCL has incurred considerable capital expenditure on modernization. In 1986, the company seized on the opportunity of putting up a plant at Jayantipuram, Andhra Pradesh, which was close to the limestone reserves at Singareni collieries. The project was commissioned 6 months ahead of schedule.
MCL is a South based cement manufacturer with a capacity of 3.45mn ton. MCL has also set up wind power projects, primarily to get tax shield. The company sold 2.719 million tonnes of cement during the year as compared to 2.682 million tonnes in the previous year. MCL's strong brand equity and logistics put it in an advantageous position. MCL's cement brand 'Ramco' is very well known in the Southern market especially in the markets of Kerala and Tamil Nadu where price realization is the highest. The blended variety of cement has received very good response from the consumers. Leveraging on its brand equity the company is targeting retail sales, which will fetch it higher realizations going forward. Another aspect that works in favor of the company is its nearness to the market. Therefore freight charges (as percentage of sales) is much lower than most of the other cement manufacturers.
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