Concrete

Adani bags Holcim’s stakes in India

Published

4 years ago

June 13, 2022

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In what is being touted as the largest acquisition bid in India’s infra and materials space valued, the race to acquire Holcim’s stake in Ambuja Cements and ACC has culminated in the Adani Group bagging the deal at $10.5 billion, and securing the position of India’s second largest cement manufacturer with a capacity of 70 MTPA.

As soon as Holcim announced its exit from the Indian market, as expected, a fierce bidding war took place to acquire their assets. JSW Cement and Ultratech Cement, backed by Sajjan Jindal and the Aditya Birla Group participated in the bidding process for these assets. However, these shares were finally bought by the Adani Group for $10.5 Billion, which gave them a controlling stake in both of these companies. The total value of the acquisition, $10.5 billion, makes this the largest acquisition by Adani, and India’s largest M&A transaction in the infrastructure and materials space. The deal was carried out through an offshore special purpose vehicle by the
Adani Group.

Fact file

Ambuja Cements docked a revenue of Rs 26,646 crores with a market share of 6.2 per cent, while ACC’s revenue was Rs 15,398 crores with a market share of 6 per cent.
The two companies together have 23 cement plants, 14 grinding stations, 80 ready-mix concrete plants and over 50,000 channel partners across the country.
Holcim, a Swiss multinational company, used to hold 63.19 per cent in Ambuja Cements and 54.53 per cent in ACC (of which 50.05 per cent is held through Ambuja Cements), through
its subsidiaries.
The Holcim Group has assets in over 90 countries. The Holcim Group had recently been looking to sell out its non-core assets, and for the same purpose, had divested its Brazilian unit for $1 billion in September 2021.

As of now, the objective of the Adani Group is to move beyond its core business of power plants, ports, and coal mine operations and expand into new fields such as airports, data centres, and digital services. Gaining its foot in the door in the cement industry is, no doubt, a part of that plan. Through this acquisition, Adani Cement, which had never been a player in the cement industry in the past, has suddenly become the second-largest cement producer in India.
Commenting about the acquisition, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group said in an official release, “Our move into the cement business is yet another validation of our belief in our nation’s growth story. Not only is India expected to remain one of the world’s largest demand-driven economies for several decades, India also continues to be the world’s second largest cement market and yet has less than half of the global average per capita cement consumption. In statistical comparison, China’s cement consumption is over 7x that of India’s. When these factors are combined with the several adjacencies of our existing businesses that include the Adani Group’s ports and logistics business, energy business, and real estate business, we believe that we will be able to build a uniquely integrated and differentiated business model and set ourselves up for significant capacity expansion.”
It is worth noting that India’s per capita cement consumption is 242 kg, while the global average is 525 kg. This is to be expected as India is still a developing country and there is a lot of scope for infrastructural development. However, it is going to take a lot of effort to tap into this market as even a growing middle class will only be able to generate additional demand in this sector at the rate of its own growth. The Covid-19 pandemic had also slowed things down a lot within the last two years. Almost all infrastructural development projects, public and private alike, were halted because of the restrictions imposed by the government. However, that is also changing now, and as restrictions are being relaxed, infrastructural projects are picking up their pace again.
All of these above aspects point towards opportunities for tremendous growth in the cement sector. However, the unique aspect that makes the Adani Group’s jump into the cement sector is that the cement business will be complementary to the Adani Group’s already existing businesses. “…several adjacencies of our existing businesses that include the Adani Group’s ports and logistics business, energy business, and real estate business, we believe that we will be able to build a uniquely integrated and differentiated business model and set ourselves up for significant capacity expansion,” said Adani.
As with the rest of the Adani portfolio, the cement business will be aligned to the UN Sustainability Development Goals with clear focus on SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), said the statement.

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UltraTech becomes first Indian cement firm to cross 2 GW green energy

Published

1 hour ago

October 7, 2026

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UltraTech Cement has crossed 2 GW of captive green energy capacity, with renewables and waste heat recovery meeting 48 per cent of its power needs.

Mumbai

UltraTech Cement Limited has surpassed 2 GW of installed green energy capacity for captive use, becoming the first cement company in India to achieve the milestone. The Aditya Birla Group company commissioned 116.55 MW of wind capacity at its Inter-State Transmission System-connected wind-solar hybrid project in Barmer, Rajasthan, along with 10 MW of Waste Heat Recovery System capacity at Sarlanagar Cement Works in Karnataka.

With these additions, UltraTech’s cumulative installed green energy capacity has reached 2,024 MW. This includes 1,580 MW of renewable energy capacity and 444 MW of waste heat recovery capacity, together meeting around 48 per cent of the company’s current power requirements.

The company said the milestone reflects the progress of its long-term energy transition strategy. In FY27 so far, nearly one-third of UltraTech’s 76 manufacturing units in India have maintained green energy utilisation above 50 per cent of their electricity requirements, while five units have crossed 95 per cent.

K C Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Limited, said, “Crossing the 2 GW green energy milestone is the result of a strategy we have pursued consistently over the past decade. Cement is an energy-intensive, hard-to-abate sector, and showing that reliability and growth can go hand in hand with a rapid shift to green energy sets a benchmark for the industry. With nearly half of our power needs now met through green energy, we are significantly less exposed to fossil fuel supply constraints and power price volatility. As we scale up renewables, waste heat recovery and battery storage across our operations, we are building an energy foundation for stable, long-term growth.”

UltraTech commissioned 430 MW of green energy capacity in FY26 and continues to expand its renewable energy and waste heat recovery portfolio.

The company is also progressively integrating Battery Energy Storage Systems across its operations to improve renewable energy utilisation and supply reliability.

In 2025, UltraTech operationalised what it described as India’s first on-site hybrid round-the-clock renewable energy project at Sewagram Cement Works in Gujarat. The project combines solar, wind and battery storage.

As part of its decarbonisation strategy, UltraTech said it has not invested in new captive thermal power capacity for either greenfield projects or brownfield expansions at its integrated units for more than a decade.

The company said its expanding green energy portfolio is helping reduce dependence on conventional grid electricity and fossil fuel-based power, while lowering exposure to fluctuations in coal and electricity prices.

UltraTech aims to increase green energy’s share in its total power mix to 85 per cent by 2030. As a member of RE100, it has also committed to meeting 100 per cent of its electricity requirement through renewable sources by 2050.

UltraTech Cement, the cement flagship of the Aditya Birla Group, has a total grey cement capacity of 210.1 MTPA and white cement and putty capacity of 3.5 MTPA. The company is also a signatory to the GCCA Climate Ambition 2050 and has committed to the GCCA Net Zero Concrete roadmap.

Concrete

Shiva Cement Merges with JSW Cement

Published

4 hours ago

October 7, 2026

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JSW Cement has announced a scheme of arrangement to merge its listed subsidiary Shiva Cement with itself, creating a single unified cement platform. The boards of both companies have approved the proposal, which will require clearances from stock exchanges, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the National Company Law Tribunal, Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation and other applicable authorities.

The transaction is expected to be completed within 12 to 14 months, subject to the necessary approvals from regulators, shareholders and creditors. Under the scheme, JSW Cement will issue 5 equity shares with a face value of Rs. 10 each for every 41 equity shares with a face value of Rs. 2 each held by Shiva Cement shareholders other than JSW Cement.

The company said the merger would consolidate financial, managerial, technical, distribution and marketing resources while reducing administrative duplication and compliance requirements. It would also provide greater funding flexibility, potentially lower financing costs and eliminate inter-company guarantees.

The consolidation is expected to strengthen backward integration by enabling JSW Cement to use Shiva Cement’s clinker manufacturing facility. This would reduce dependence on external clinker procurement and improve supply-chain efficiency. Public shareholders of Shiva Cement would receive direct ownership in JSW Cement, which has a broader institutional investor base and a more liquid listed presence.

JSW Cement acquired a controlling stake in Shiva Cement through transactions that began in January 2017. Shiva Cement operates a clinker facility in Odisha, near the borders of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, and commissioned a 1 mtpa cement grinding unit at Sambalpur in FY26 through a commercial arrangement with Bhushan Power and Steel.

JSW Cement has 24.10 mtpa of cement grinding capacity and 9.74 mtpa of clinkerisation capacity. Its Indian operations comprise nine plants, including two integrated units, one clinker unit and six grinding units. The proposed merger is intended to simplify the corporate structure and align the financial statements of the two companies.

Concrete

UltraTech’s Kukurdih unit runs fully on green energy

The Chhattisgarh plant has met 100 per cent of its electricity needs through green energy since April 2026.

Published

6 days ago

October 1, 2026

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UltraTech Cement’s Kukurdih Cement Works in Chhattisgarh has met 100 per cent of its electricity requirement through green energy every month since April 2026. Commissioned in 2024, the integrated cement manufacturing unit has an installed grey cement capacity of 3.3 million tonnes per annum.

The plant meets its electricity requirement through a combination of renewable power sourcing and Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS). UltraTech said the combination enables the unit to meet its power needs through green energy while maintaining operational reliability.

Since April 2026, nearly a third of UltraTech’s 76 manufacturing units in India have maintained green energy utilisation above 50 per cent of their electricity requirement. Five units, including Kukurdih, have exceeded 95 per cent green energy utilisation.

The company is also progressively deploying Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) across its manufacturing network to support greater integration of renewable energy. UltraTech said it has not invested in new captive thermal power capacity at its integrated units, including greenfield projects and brownfield expansions, for more than 10 years.

As of Q1FY27, UltraTech’s captive green energy capacity stood at 1,897 MW, comprising 1,463 MW of renewable capacity from solar, wind and hybrid sources, and 434 MW of WHRS capacity.

Under its RE100 commitment, the company aims to increase the share of green power in its total power mix to 85 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050.