Dalmia Cement (Bharat) (DCBL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat, will procure up to 11 MW of solar power as a captive consumer from Bijlee Kandasamy in Tamil Nadu.

Bijlee Kandasamy is a special purpose vehicle to set up the solar power project on a captive basis.

Dalmia Cement has entered into a share subscription and shareholder agreement to acquire 25.38% of Bijlee Kandasamy’s equity. The acquisition consists of 3.03 million equity shares aggregating to an investment of ₹33 million (~$393,029) to be made in one or more tranches.

The transaction is expected to be completed within two months.

The project is part of Dalmia Cement’s efforts to achieve its RE100 goals by 2030 and turn carbon negative by 2040.

Dalmia Cement has recently entered into share purchase agreements with renewable energy companies to source clean energy for its operations. In September, Dalmia Cement said it would procure up to 11.2 MW of solar power as a captive consumer from Solsolis Solar Energy Solutions in Odisha. It entered into a share subscription and shareholders agreement to acquire 26% of Solsolis’ equity.

In the same month, Oriana Power, through its subsidiary, Truere Surya, secured a ₹5.2 billion (~$61.94 million) contract from DCBL to develop a 128 MW ground-mounted solar power project under the open access captive arrangement in Tamil Nadu. Dalmia Cement will acquire 26% shares for ₹448 million (~$5.34 million) in Truere Surya.

Energy-intensive cement manufacturing is among the most hard-to-abate sectors. Several cement companies are increasingly adopting renewable energy to reduce emissions and become more sustainable.

According to credit rating agency ICRA, green power is projected to account for approximately 40-42% of the total power mix of major cement companies in India by March 2025 from around 35% as of March 2023.

Key cement industry players in the country aim to reduce their emissions by 15-17% over the next 8-10 years by boosting solar, wind, and waste heat recovery system (WHRS) capacities.