Bihani Cement Ltd, the flagship company of the Braj Binani Group, which has interests in cement, zinc and fibre glass, is growing globally. "We are trying to replicate what Anil Agarwal did to Vedanta," says Vinod Junej a, deputy managing director, Binani Cements. In the process, the company has pursued a two pronged strategy of growth by expanding its operations in India as well as overseas -China and Dubai. The company has a 70 per cent stake in Shangdong Binani Rong' An Cement Company Ltd. (sbrcc), China through its wholly owned subsidiary Krishna Holdings Pte Ltd. (khl), Singapore. In March 2008, the company, through Mukundan Holdings Ltd. (mhl), a company registered in the British Virgin Islands (bvi), has invested in 49 per cent of the paid up capital of Binani Cement Factory llc (bcf), Dubai which is operating a 1.2 million tonne slag and cement facility in Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE. The capacity is being increased to 2 million tonne per annum. According to Juneja, bcl is planning to double the capacity in both these plants by 2012. "In next three years, we are planning to invest a total of Rs2,000 crore in China, Dubai and Gujarat. In coastal Gujarat alone we will be investing Rs800 crore." The group, it seems, is in advanced negotiations with one of the largest coal introducers in Indonesia, pt Berau, to acquire a coal mine as raw material support for its cement operations in India. Juneja, without confirming the name of the company, says, "It is a part of our growth strategy of backward integration." "It is a wise decision," says an analyst. "Since they have cement plants in China, Dubai and India, it makes sense to look for some places like Indonesia, where coal is much cheaper as compared to New Zealand or India. Moreover the quality of Indonesian coal is much higher," he adds. "In Africa, near Port Louis, and the Ivory Coast, we plan to set up a one million tonne cement plant each with an investment of RslOO crore," adds Juneja. On the financial front, bcl for the year ended March 2008 on a turnover of Rs 1,148 crore has posted a profit after tax of Rsl75.82 crore as against Rs95.61 crore in 2006-07.