– Vishal Kanodia, Managing Director, Kanodia Cement India is not only one of the fastest-growing economies in the world but also is the second-largest producer of cement globally, which accounts for more than seven per cent of the global installed capacity. Vishal Kanodia, Managing Director, Kanodia Cement, tells what’s on the horizon for the Indian cement industry. How do you view the current market for cement in India? Which sectors have been driving key opportunities for the company? Consumption of cement globally mounts to 530 kg while in India the sole per capita consumption of cement is 240 Kg, highlighting a huge economic opportunity for the cement manufacturing industry to cater to the unmet demand in the future. The cement industry had a record growth of 18-20 per cent volume over the last financial year. As per the ICRA Report of 2021-22, cement production and despatch reached the level of 355 million tonne, surpassing the pre-COVID levels by more than 6 per cent. As per Crisil Ratings, the Indian cement industry is likely to add 80 million tonne capacity by 2024, driven by the flourishing housing and infrastructure sectors. With this, Indian cement production capacity will reach 550 million tonnes per annum. Despite the increase in net sales, however, realisations dipped by five per cent and the OPBITDA per metric tonne declined by 10 per cent YoY in the last financial year to Rs 1,124. The reason behind this is the current manifold increase in inputs cost. How does the new cement grinding unit in Amethi contribute to the company’s overall manufacturing capacity and how does this help in meeting the demand-supply gap? Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the largest cement-consuming state in the country, but the state has always remained a cement deficient state where out of the total consumption of 4.5 million tonne per month, hardly 50 per cent of the demand is met, with the balance met with the help of other states There has been a huge demand-supply gap which was a major reason for setting up a cement grinding unit in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. Currently, our annual cement production capacity is 4.3 million tonne per annum with five cement grinding units across the country. What is the company’s current market share in the state? Any plans to expand footprint across the country? At present, Kanodia Cement has installed a capacity of 2.8 million tonne per annum with four cement grinding units spread over Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Three cement grinding units are established with a 100 per cent automatic grinding technique at Sikandarabad and one plant in Kaimur Bhabua. Fifth is the one at Amethi. Last year our capacity growth was more than 50 per cent and we are in process of establishing more cement grinding units in Uttar Pradesh and the other parts of the country to make the best quality of cement available to the consumers easily, thereby creating more job opportunities. What kind of growth do you expect for the company in the next five years? We are looking at expanding our capacity to up to 535 million tonne by the year 2024-25.