Concrete

Cement companies should avoid giving any negative message

Published

6 years ago

March 5, 2021

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Branding has become the need of an hour today. You need to have the right pricing, right quality, and right message delivered while creating a successful brand. M Ravinder Reddy, Director ??Marketing, Vicat, believes that a lot of hard work is required behind creating a successful brand. He shares his company?? journey of creating cement as a brand.

How has been the journey of cement from commodity to brand?

I am quite satisfied with the journey of cement as a brand so far. If you consider the control days, the situation has changed significantly since 1982 when partial decontrol was introduced. Cement started selling as a brand since then. Initially it was in a radius of around 400 km around the plant. Then in the year 1989, cement became an independent commodity without any controls. It was then when the cement companies started advertisements for branding. The manufacturers went from one location to multiple locations.

Today if you see there is one mother brand and under it, there are a few more sub-brands. Today, cement is almost like any FMCG product. While creating a brand there is a lot of hard work that goes behind. Quality of the product and packing of the finished item is extremely important.

What are the three important attributes of cement as a brand?

Today?? customer is extremely sensitive and conscious about weights and measurement. He is aware of his rights. When we have moved from jute bags to laminated bags we must also make sure about what we are delivering to the customer. Today customer does not accept any compromise on quality.
The customer wants a consistent quality. Many times we give a quality product but it is not uniform in strength, colour, fineness, etc. There will be variation in the limestone quality but in the process, we must make sure of what comes out of the kiln that is in our hands.
The third important aspect is service associated with the product and delivery of the product.
When cement producers are trying to establish as a brand they will have to respond to all the three attributes stated above.

What do you think cement companies should avoid while establishing their product as a brand?

Cement companies should avoid giving any negative message. It will always go against the company. The producers should try to create a good image of the product and the company. As I said above, the customer today is very sensitive and fully aware of his rights. We should not try and hoodwink him; we should give him what we promise.

How important is the compressive strength of cement while creating a brand?

No doubt strength is an important property of cement. But today we not only talk of strength. We talk about setting time, water requirement, fly ash, or slag present. Properties that will impart durability to the structure that is being constructed. The industry is going away from strength as a property. Today?? advertisements are revolving around relations, durability, and sustainability.

Is it necessary to attach a personality to cement while creating a brand?

Yes, personality is important. When new cement is launched, we would engage a personality that can give confidence to the buyer. It is necessary for any new product but when the product is already established you can think of a different type of campaign.

I remember at Bharathi cement, we had hired the well-known Telugu actor Surya as a brand ambassador. We came to know before he took up our assignment, he had used our cement for his own construction and was a quite satisfied customer. This gives another dimension to the entire campaign.

Talking about cement as a product, what we produce today is backed by strong technological inputs and is comparable to a product in Europe or the US. When we launched our cement in Sri Lanka, our product was far superior to any local product. Apart from the consumer, we are also associating with engineers and masons who are part of the user chain. Their response to our product is equally important and valuable.

M Ravinder Reddy holds a MBA degree in Marketing and has over 34 years of experience in cement industry. While at Priya cement, he had introduced HDPE packing by replacing Jute packing. He joined Bharathi Cement as a Whole-time Director in September 2008, and he heads the company?? sales and marketing operations of Vicat India. In 2009, he successfully launched the ??harathi Cement??in premium segment. He is recipient of many national and international awards.In addition, he is an elected Chairman of Cement, Clinkers and Asbestos Cement products panel of CAPEXIL and also Vice President of South India Cement Manufacturer?? Association.

Concrete

Assam Cabinet Approves Rs. 110 bn JK Lakshmi Cement Investment

ADB-backed project to restore 102 community beels also approved

Published

6 hours ago

September 28, 2026

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The Assam Cabinet has approved an investment of Rs. 110 bn by JK Lakshmi Cement for a clinker manufacturing unit and four associated cement grinding units in the state. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced the decision on 24 September 2026, along with approvals covering wetland restoration and industrial support.

The proposed cement investment is expected to generate around 2,000 direct jobs. The project forms part of the state government’s latest measures to attract manufacturing activity and strengthen industrial infrastructure. The Cabinet also approved a State Capital Investment Subsidy for eligible manufacturing units covered by the substantive provisions of the Uttar Poorva Transformative Industrialization Scheme, or UNNATI, 2024.

The subsidy will apply to units that qualified under the scheme but were unable to secure registration by the extended deadline of 30 September 2026. The measure is intended to support eligible businesses that missed the registration process while continuing to meet the scheme’s substantive requirements.

The Cabinet also cleared an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded project for the restoration and rehabilitation of at least 102 derelict community beels across Assam. The ADB loan component is Rs. 6.38 bn, while the Assam government’s contribution will be Rs. 1.59 bn.

In another decision, the Cabinet approved a rent-based or pro bono arrangement for constructing a laboratory and ancillary infrastructure for the Spices Board under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The facility will be built at Ulubari in Guwahati, with the Agriculture Department coordinating with the Public Works Department (Buildings) to construct it according to designs and specifications provided by the board.

Concrete

JSW Cement Receives Rs. 2.3 bn GST Demand Notice

JSW Cement faces a GST demand over alleged incorrect classification.

Published

6 hours ago

September 28, 2026

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JSW Cement has received a show-cause notice proposing a Goods and Services Tax (GST) demand of Rs. 2.3 bn, along with applicable interest and a 10 per cent penalty, over an alleged incorrect classification of transactions. The notice was issued by the Additional Commissioner of Central Tax, Belagavi Audit Commissionerate, on September 24, 2026.

The proposed demand relates to the period from April 2022 to March 2024 and has been issued under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017. The company disclosed the notice in a filing with the stock exchanges and said the matter involved an alleged short payment of GST.

The proposed amount comprises Integrated GST (IGST) of Rs. 1.22 bn, Central GST (CGST) of Rs. 540.5 mn and State GST (SGST) of Rs. 540.5 mn. The department has also cited alleged contraventions of Sections 9, 37 and 39 of the CGST Act, with interest proposed under Section 50 and the penalty under Section 73.

JSW Cement said the financial impact of the notice would be limited to the proposed tax demand, applicable interest and penalty. However, it assessed that the matter would not have a material impact on the company. The cement manufacturer is preparing its reply to the show-cause notice.

The notice was issued to JSW Cement, which is part of the Sajjan Jindal-promoted JSW Group. The company reiterated that the total proposed GST demand stood at Rs. 2.3 bn, excluding the applicable interest and 10 per cent penalty, and that the proceedings remained at the show-cause stage.

Shares of JSW Cement ended at Rs. 115.65 on the BSE on Thursday, down Rs. 2.60, or 2.20 per cent, from the previous close. The stock movement came as the company disclosed the proposed tax demand and its intention to respond to the department’s notice.

Concrete

Montra Electric, Wonder Cement Deploy 250-Vehicle EV Fleet

Fleet to haul cement on a 1,450-km corridor across four states

Published

6 hours ago

September 28, 2026

admin

Montra Electric and Wonder Cement have begun commercial operation of a 250-vehicle deployment of Rhino 5538 EV 4×2 tractor-trailers on an electric freight corridor linking Rajasthan with ports in Gujarat. The companies said the fleet is being used for regular cement logistics rather than a limited pilot, making it one of the largest heavy-duty electric truck deployments by an Indian industrial company.

An initial 30 trucks were introduced from Wonder Cement’s plant in Nimbahera, Rajasthan, in July 2026. They are hauling full payloads on daily routes between Nimbahera and Dahej Port and between Nimbahera and Tuna Port, covering approximately 1,450 km across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. The vehicles operate to schedules comparable with those of the company’s conventional diesel fleet.

The corridor is supported by 13 dedicated charging stations positioned to enable long-distance duty cycles within industrial turnaround times. The Rhino 5538 EV is available with a 55 t Gross Combination Weight option and is designed for cement, coal and clinker transport. Its specifications include a 282 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor producing 280 kW and 2,000 Nm of torque, 18 per cent continuous gradeability and a 6-speed Automated Manual Transmission.

The vehicle has a stated range of 198 km under specified test conditions, with one side loaded and the other empty. It can charge from 20 to 100 per cent State of Charge in 60 minutes and is supported by more than 95 per cent assured uptime. Montra Electric and Wonder Cement said the deployment would assess electrification through payload capacity, turnaround performance and daily availability in live freight operations.

Montra Electric said the same operating model could support steel, mining, infrastructure and port haulage, where fixed routes and predictable turnaround windows are common. The company has more than 750 heavy-duty electric vehicles on Indian roads and has covered over 30 mn km across its deployments. Montra Electric operates as the clean mobility arm of the Murugappa Group, with businesses spanning heavy commercial vehicles, smaller commercial vehicles, three-wheelers and electric tractors.