In the second part of ICR's interview with Dr Bibekanana Mohapatra, NCB's head director, we discuss the current Indian cement market and the opportunities for trade.
Indian Cement Sector Review
ICR: This year, Indian cement demands is forecast by some analysts to be about half what it was in 2018. Are there many government infrastructure projects that are being held back which could alleviate the pressure on the cement sector soon?
NCB: The cement demand this fiscal is set to more than half to 5.5 per cent from 12 per cent logged in last year. However, the Indian cement industry has very positive expectations for next and coming years. The government's efforts for making India the manufacturing hub of the world through several programmes, such as “Make in India”, “Skill India” are further expected to contribute to India's growth story. It is expected that government initiatives like “Make in India”, “Swachh Bharat Abiyan (Clean India Mission)”, “100 Smart Cities”, “Housing for all by 2022”, “World class cement concrete highways”, “Dedicated freight corridors”, “Ultra mega power projects”, “Connectivity improvement through water transport”, “State highways” etc stimulate the cement demand in coming years and the projected demand for cement in 2022 would be in excess of 60Mt.
