NEW DELHI: The Indian cement industry, witnessing a consolidation and heightened rivalry between two corporate houses snapping smaller players, pins its hope on 2025 for an improvement in sales realisation, higher margins and acceleration in demand, expecting around 8 per cent sales growth helped by an increased government spendings on big-ticket infra projects.
Over 50 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) capacity are being acquired for USD 4.5 billion by two leading players – Aditya Birla group firm UltraTech Cement and billionaire Gautam Adani-led Ambuja Cements, besides organic expansion of the existing units as they have kept their war chest ready prowling for opportunities.
The industry faced challenges on numerous fronts in 2024, right from moderate capacity utilisation to lower sales realisation, which impacted the topline of several makers, contraction of margins and slower volume growth. PTI
