Steel billionaire Narendra Raval has invested Sh1.8 billion in upgrading the fertiliser plant his firm acquired in the buyout of ARM Cement, marking the tycoon’s latest multibillion-shilling investment.
The investment will triple the plant’s production capacity to 300,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser annually.
The upgrade of the fertiliser blending plant comes less than two years after Mr Raval’s, National Cement Company, paid Sh5 billion to complete the purchase of ARM Cement assets in Kenya.
The fertiliser division was the third arm under ARM Cement. Athi River has other business divisions producing cement, chemicals and industrial minerals.
“The total cost of investment in this project is Sh1.8 billion. The money will go into buying new machinery and upgrading the plant to new standards,” said Mr Raval in an interview with the Business Daily on Monday.
The plant – which has been renamed Maisha Mineral Fertiliser Limited (MMFL) will sit on 11 acres in Athi River, Machakos County.
Maisha Mineral Fertiliser will be a processor and supplier of a wide range of fertilisers such as Mavuno Planting, Mavuno vegetables and Mavuno top dressing.
The granulated fertilisers are of various grade of blended nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium depending on the crop requirements.
The plant, set to become fully operational in the next two months.
“We have been constructing the new plant for the last one year. We expect to open in the next two months. By then, the plant should be 100 per cent operational,” he said.
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