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The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the merger of Adani Cementation with Ambuja Cements which will consolidate the Adani Group’s cement operations under a single entity and unlock synergistic benefits. The Ahmedabad bench of the NCLT passed the order on July 18 sanctioning the proposed scheme of amalgamation. In June 2024 the Gautam Adani-led group had announced plans to restructure ownership and merge its cement businesses housed under Ambuja Cements and Adani Cementation a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises. Adani Cementation & Ambuja Cements Merger The scheme of amalgamation annexed as Annexure I to the company petition is hereby sanctioned and it is declared that the same shall be binding on the petitioner companies and their shareholders and creditors and all concerned under the scheme said the two-member NCLT bench. The effective date of the amalgamation will be April 1 2024 said the 70-page-long NCLT order. The intergroup merger is based on share swapping and Adani Enterprises will get 8.7 million shares of Ambuja Cements. The NCLT has directed Ambuja Cements a listed entity to comply with all applicable regulations circulars and directions issued by market regulator Sebi and bourses BSE NSE and Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Ambuja Cements Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. All the property rights and powers of the undertaking of the transferor company (Adani Cementation) and all the other property rights and powers of the transferor company be transferred without any further act or deed to the transferee company (Ambuja Cements) the NCLT order said. Adani Group On Merger While citing the rationale for the merger scheme Adani Group entities said it will lead to enhanced value addition for both companies and consequently the value of the shareholders will increase. It will help Ambuja Cement to absorb the cement business of Adani Cementation which will help it to enhance its manufacturing capacity more efficiently seamlessly and economically. Besides it will also help in improved utilisation of the combined resources of both companies lowering the overheads and reducing compliance requirements. The amalgamation will help the transferee company to quickly start the construction activity at various sites of the transferor company and that of the wholly-owned subsidiary of the transferor company both companies said. Adani Cementation has lease rights to limestone mines with resources of about 275 million tonnes at Lakhpat Gujarat. It has also proposed to set up a manufacturing unit at Raigad Maharashtra. Ambuja Cements which has crossed 100 MTPA capacity in FY25 in a record time mainly through acquisitions now aims to reach 118 MTPA by FY 2026 and 140 MTPA by FY 2028 primarily through brownfield expansion projects. Adani Group is a new entrant in the cement sector. It entered the Cement sector in September 2022 after acquiring controlling stakes in Ambuja Cement from Swiss firm Holcim for USD 6.4 billion (about Rs 51000 crore).  Later Ambuja Cements owns a 51 per cent stake in ACC Ltd pursued inorganic growth acquiring small companies as Hyderabad-based Penna Cement and Saurastra-based Sanghi Industries. Earlier this year it also acquired Orient Cement from the CK Birla group. The Indian cement market is led by Aditya Birla Group firm UltraTech Cement Ltd which has a consolidated capacity of 192.26 MTPA. However these new mergers by Adani group can pose a big challenge in front of India’s leading cement manufacturer Aditya Birla Group. (With Inputs From PTI)