Multimodal transport to ease Indian cement supplies and prices

The Indian government is looking at ways to balance up supply and demand of cement across the country, while also helping to reduce cement prices. Cement producers in southern India have idle capacity due to low demand, while in the north of the country demand remains high and cement is in short supply. According to a government spokesperson, one proposal is to transport cement by sea from southern India to a port in eastern Indian eg, Haldia, from where it can be taken to cities such as Varanasi via inland waterways before being transported to its final destination by road. 
 
India’s finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, hopes that improving the availability of cement through better logistics will also bring down the price, with the all-India average cement price rising by INR25-30/50kg bag (US$0.32-0.38/50kg bag), or 8.1 per cent, in April this year alone, compared to the previous month. Prices have risen by as much as INR390/50kg bag over the last 12 months with cement dealers in some regions warning of a further rise of INR10-20/50kg bag in May this year, reports BusinessLine Online. Although demand has improved over the 1HFY22, this has now slowed due to unseasonal rain, sand issues and labour shortages.