Concrete

Social listening is a proactive process

Published

4 years ago

August 11, 2022

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Sameer Narkar, Founder & CEO, Konnect Insights – Prudence Analytics and Software Solutions, talks to ICR about the importance of technology and innovation, and why Business Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence will be game changers.

What is your observation on the overall cement industry in India?
The demand for the cement industry is growing exponentially because of the industry’s upsurge in commercial, housing, and industrial construction. The housing sector is the key contributor in the overall development, the activities declined or halted due to the lockdown during the covid 19 pandemic, however, significant market growth is expected in the coming years. Production-wise south India has maximum production capacity which adds 33 per cent overall cement production. In the wake of the Covid-19, the production has been affected due to the intermittent work and restrictions on allocating work.

India has seen a spur in the construction and infrastructure activities, what role would transformation and innovation play to enhance the customer experience in the cement sector?
Digital transformation and innovation have been key aspects for companies across every industry survive the pandemic over the last couple of years. Yes, there have been challenges but these have led to an important evolution leading to the digital first economy. While the cement industry is extremely traditionally driven, the brands have been forced to evolve and adopt digitally.
While the spur in construction and infrastructure activities spells more demand for cement companies, customers, being at the center of the complete buying cycle, are empowered to re-evaluate their choices and their interactions with these brands. They have power of information to make decisions that can work in favour of one brand or the other. In the same way, the organisations also need to reconsider the current or the potential ways they can influence the customers. All this mandates that cement brands have to be innovative and become digital savvy to attract, engage and get the new age customers interested in their brand.

Over the years what initiatives by the government have given a boost to cement sectors and business transformation has been a key aspect?
The Government of India is strongly focused on infrastructure development to boost economic growth and is aiming for 100 smart cities. Additionally, the Union Budget allocated Rs 13,750 crore (US$ 1.88 billion) and Rs 12,294 crore (US$ 1.68 billion) for Urban Rejuvenation Mission: AMRUT and Smart Cities Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission, respectively and Rs 27,500 crore (US$ 3.77 billion) has been allotted under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
These factors contribute to the increased demand for the cement industry and cement companies are surely capitalising on this. Reiterating the fact that the demand is controlled by the customers and stakeholders in the supply chain, and they are the ones who will choose one brand over the other. That’s where technologies such as social listening, analytics and AI play an important part.

How would solutions such as social listening, analytics and AI help companies move to the next level and how do you see this impact the overall cement business?
Social listening is a proactive process, where with the help of a platform such as Konnect Insights, brands can listen to conversations of what is being spoken about the brand, its competition and the industry in real-time, across the web, social media, mobile apps, conversational channels, physical stores and so on. With this data the brand can determine where they stand in the market, how they compare with the others, what is their influence in the industry, what kind of customers are associating with the brand, what are the upcoming trends to expect.
With respect to customer experience management, AI-driven automation can come in handy when it comes to responding to customer queries for better productivity. Advanced workflows can reduce time taken due to manual processes, thus reducing customer churn and positively impacting customer loyalty.

How does Konnect Insights fit into the cement industry requirements and how are you able to technologically enable your customers in this domain?
Konnect Insights is an omni-channel customer experience management platform that enables cement brands take care of their identity, perception, positioning by ensuring complete customer experience management, no matter they channel they choose to interact, engage or voice out their opinions and experiences regarding the brand. Konnect Insights is used by some of the major players in the cement industry to offer value to their customers by unifying customer experience, marketing and analytics.

What technology trends do you foresee enabling the concrete sector?
Digitalisation and data will continue to drive evolution for the concrete sector. Business Intelligence technologies will play a crucial role to fuel decision making with regards to every aspect of the business be it processes, customer management, marketing, among others. AI is also definitely going to be a game changer that will improve processes and drive productivity. With automation and RPA, the cement industry can definitely amp up their production quantity and quality to meet the growing demands as well as provide superior products.

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Jammu Division Begins First Cement Rail Traffic to Anantnag

Cement Loading From Kathua for Anantnag to Begin on September 14

Published

3 days ago

September 21, 2026

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Jammu Railway Division has placed an indent for the first movement of cement by rail within the division, linking Shaheed Captain Sunil Kumar Choudhary Kathua Railway Station with Anantnag Railway Station. Loading for the consignment is scheduled to begin on September 14.

Concrete

Hard Worker Wins Three Honours at Kyoorius Design Awards

Ramco Cements’ brand secures Grand Prix and two Blue Elephant honours.

Published

3 days ago

September 21, 2026

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The Ramco Cements Limited’s construction chemicals brand, Hard Worker, has won three honours at the Kyoorius Design Awards 2026, including the Grand Prix – Grey Elephant in the Design in Action category.

The brand also secured two Blue Elephant honours, one for Design in Action and another for Packaging, recognising the design approach behind its brand identity and packaging.

Launched in 2025, Hard Worker entered the construction chemicals segment with the brand promise, “Hard-working products for hardworking people.” Its visual identity uses animals and birds to represent product benefits. The camel represents the water-retention capability of Hard Worker Eco Plaster, while the cheetah represents the speed and performance of Hard Worker Block Fix.

The visual language has been extended across packaging, retail, communication, literature, digital platforms and other brand touchpoints. Hard Worker uses bold colours, distinctive animal illustrations and simple visual storytelling to communicate product benefits across markets and audiences, including construction workers and applicators.

“For Hard Worker, design was never an afterthought. It was fundamental to how we wanted to build the brand. In a category that is largely functional, we wanted to create a brand that people could recognise, understand and remember instantly. The Kyoorius recognition is a wonderful validation of this design-led approach,” said Mr. AV Dharmakrishnan, CEO, The Ramco Cements Limited.

Mr. Balaji K. Moorthy, Executive Director – Marketing, Ramco Cements said “In a category where communication has traditionally been product-led and functional, we wanted Hard Worker to stand apart by making design an integral part of the brand experience. From the distinctive animal-led packaging to our communication across consumer and trade touchpoints, every element was designed to make the brand more memorable and the product benefits easier to understand.”

Within its first 12 months, Hard Worker crossed Rs 3.5 bn in sales. The latest recognition follows six honours secured by the brand’s campaign at the Kyoorius Creative Awards earlier in 2026, including the Grey Elephant Grand Prix for its Eco Plaster film.

The Kyoorius Design Awards recognise outstanding design work in India’s visual communications sector across multiple categories and platforms. The 2026 awards were announced on 12 September in Goa.

The Ramco Cements Limited is part of the Ramco Group and operates across cement and allied building-material solutions. Hard Worker is its construction chemicals brand, offering solutions across key construction applications.

Concrete

Cement Firms to Invest Rs. 130 bn in Green Energy by FY28

Cement companies plan to expand clean energy capacity to 6 GW by FY28

Published

7 days ago

September 17, 2026

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India’s major cement companies are set to raise their clean energy capacity to 6 GW by March 2028 from around 4 GW at the end of March 2026, according to ratings agency ICRA. The planned expansion is expected to involve investments of Rs. 130 bn over the next two years.

The additional capacity could generate annual savings of Rs. 62 bn to Rs. 67 bn, resulting in an estimated payback period of 1.8 to 2.2 years. Cement is an emission-intensive industry, and leading producers have established net-zero roadmaps covering the next 15 to 20 years.

The calcination process accounts for 57 to 60 per cent of the sector’s total emissions, while fuel combustion contributes 27 to 30 per cent and electricity consumption accounts for 10 to 13 per cent. ICRA said the figures highlighted the need for a broad decarbonisation strategy involving green power, blended cement, alternative fuels and improvements in clinker efficiency.

Green energy is considered one of the most commercially attractive decarbonisation options because it can reduce emissions while lowering operating costs. Every 5 per cent increase in green power replacement can reduce power and fuel costs by Rs. 15 to Rs. 16 per tonne. A 25 per cent replacement level could therefore save Rs. 75 to Rs. 80 per tonne and expand operating margins by 140 to 160 basis points.

Cement producers are also assessing carbon capture, utilisation and storage, although high implementation costs, energy requirements and limited transport and storage infrastructure are expected to slow commercial adoption. The government has proposed Rs. 200 bn over five years to support deployment across key sectors. Meanwhile, companies are targeting thermal substitution rates of 10 to 15 per cent over the next three to five years, compared with the current industry level of around 6 per cent.