Chairman of UltraTech Cement, Kumar Mangalam Birla, told the media that the Indian cement industry is on the growth path, led by various government's initiatives. The cement industry is likely to have bright prospects in this financial year (FY). According to an annual report of the Aditya Birla Group, the government's infrastructure projects and affordable housing like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) with enhanced budgetary allocations will be the primary sources of growth for the cement industry. The cement industry is looking forward to a brighter future in FY22, he said. Birla said that the cement industry faced a decline of about 10-12% because of the Covid-19 pandemic in FY21 but began to improve in the second half of FY21. The cement volume demand is also getting influenced by the resumption of the construction work of institutional infrastructure projects like metro rail and road, Birla said. As per the Cement Manufacturing Association (CMA), the overall installed cement capacity in India is about 545 million tonnes (mt) per year. It accounts for about 7% of the global installed cement capacity. According to CMA, the Indian Cement industry is the second-largest cement industry in the world. The board has approved a CAPEX of Rs 5,477 crore for increasing the capacity by 12.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) together with brownfield and greenfield expansions, Birla said. Productions from these capacities are expected to go on a stream in a phased manner in FY 2022-23. UltraTech has a consolidated capacity of 116.8 MTPA of grey cement, and its net revenue was up by 5.41% to Rs 44,726 crore. Aditya Birla Group has 27 grinding facilities, 22 integrated manufacturing facilities, and seven bulk packaging terminals. Image Source Also read: Concessions on bulk cement transportation to boost cement traffic