Alok Sanghi has been tremendously successful in projecting Sanghi Cement as a premium brand. In a candid chat with Indian Cement Review, he dwells at length on the future expansion plans of his company.How do you view the development of the Indian cement industry? The Indian cement industry is the second largest, preceded by China. As of the end of the 2010-11 financial year; its total capacity amounted to about 300 million tonnes (MT).The long term growth for the cement sector is positive with the potential demand for cement to grow at 8-10 per cent in the coming few years. However, the current cement production capacities of over 300 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) are significantly higher than the 220-240 MTPA demand projected for 2012. We expect supply to outstrip demand for the next two years due to the significant capacity additions of approximately 75 MTPA.Please comment on the major technological developments in the Indian cement industry
The major technological development thrust area in the cement industry today are utilization of alternate fuels like solid waste, plastic waste, sludge, waste oils etc in the kiln firing system and manufacturing of more of blended cement in order to reduce the green house gases escaping in our environment. Another area of importance is the installation of waste heat recovery system to generate power and installation of systems like dry fly ash handling system to generate power.What are the future expansion plans of Sanghi Cement?We plan to increase our current capacity of 3 mtpa to 7 mtpa over the next few years through a mix of debt and equity funding. Additionally, we also plan to increase our presence in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.Are you present in the export sector? To which countries do you export your products?Yes, we are present in the export sector. We export cement & clinker to various countries in Middle East, Africa, Sri Lanka etc. We are one of the largest exporters of bagged cement from India.What kind of training skills needs to be imparted to personnel in the cement industry today?
Indian cement industry as a key core sector plays an important role in creating a world class economy. There has been tremendous growth of activities in the industry in terms of modernization, in order to keep pace with expansion due to technological development, a strong manpower base equipped with the required knowledge and technical know-how has to be built within the cement industry, new training initiatives have to be taken at all levels. Technical skills require to be imparted in this industry are quality assurance, safety, environmental management, project management, information systems, accounting, finance and procurement, commercial and inward and outbound logistics.