Cement demand to contract as COVID-19 hurts construction

COVID-19 has cast a long shadow over a much-anticipated mild recovery in Indian economy in fiscal 2021, with construction and thereby cement demand being hard hit.Given the uncertainties, an analysis is based on two possible scenarios – a baseline view assuming lockdown and other social distancing measures to continue till April-end and construction activity to resume in mid-May, and a pessimistic view assuming extended vulnerability to the virus with construction activity beginning only in the second half of this financial year.