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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Lokesh Lays Stone For Rs 31 Billion Cement Unit In Kadapa

Line-2 expansion to make Kadapa a major cement hub

Published

5 days ago

July 20, 2026

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Andhra Pradesh Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday laid the foundation stone for the Line-2 expansion of Dalmia Bharat Cement at Chinnakomerla village in Mylavaram Mandal in Kadapa district. The project carries an investment of Rs 31 billion (bn) and is slated for completion by the third quarter of the financial year 2028. The expansion is intended to boost industrial growth and employment generation across the Rayalaseema region.

Once commissioned, the Kadapa facility will become Dalmia Bharat’s largest integrated cement manufacturing ecosystem in southern India, creating over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and opening new business avenues for regional micro, small and medium enterprises and transport operators. Lokesh said the expansion signalled growing corporate confidence in the state and reflected the practical ease of doing business that secured repeat investment.

He placed the project within the government’s wider economic targets and recalled the Yuvagalam padayatra commitment to generate two million (mn) jobs within five years, noting that the state would cultivate talent while industry created opportunities. Lokesh highlighted Andhra Pradesh’s competitive pursuit of major manufacturing accounts, mentioning past successes and a personal initiative to engage global investors when persuading them to anchor expansion in the state.

The plant will leverage Kadapa’s abundant limestone reserves to scale production and sustainability. Clinker capacity is planned to rise from two point five million tonnes per annum (mn tpa) to six point one mn tpa, while overall cement output will increase from three point six mn tpa to nine point six mn tpa. The unit is designed to operate on over eighty per cent renewable energy and deploy waste heat recovery, zero liquid discharge, water recycling and advanced AI systems to optimise efficiency. Industries Minister TG Bharat, BC Welfare Minister S. Savitha and Jammalamadugu MLA C. Adinarayana Reddy attended the ceremony.

Concrete

Cement Prices to Stay Flat in Q2 FY27 as Costs Squeeze Margins

HDFC Securities warns monsoon slowdown and higher fuel costs

Published

1 week ago

July 17, 2026

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HDFC Securities has said the cement industry is unlikely to register a sequential increase in prices in Q2 FY27 as monsoon-related demand moderation coincides with rising fuel and packaging costs that will squeeze margins. The brokerage observed that price gains remained modest, with increases of two to three per cent quarter-on-quarter across regions, and noted subdued offtake in May with improvement in June as a delayed monsoon supported construction activity. The brokerage added that modest pricing gains so far have been insufficient to offset the input cost escalation.

The report stated that input cost pressures intensified in Q1 FY27 owing to the West Asia conflict, which pushed up coal and pet coke prices and is expected to keep fuel costs elevated, with a likely peak in Q2 FY27. It assessed that total variable costs, including packing, could rise by around Rs 150 per t quarter-on-quarter and that lower offtake and seasonal operating deleverage could further raise operating expenditure by about Rs 50 per t quarter-on-quarter.

Overall, cement prices were estimated to remain flat in Q2 FY27 as monsoon-led demand weakness offsets limited upside in realisation, and rising fuel costs alongside seasonal deleverage were expected to compress industry margins by over Rs 100 per t quarter-on-quarter to below Rs 880 per t. The brokerage indicated that the combined impact of energy inflation and higher packing expenditure would be the principal drivers of margin contraction in the near term. HDFC Securities projected a recovery in margins in H2 FY27 should the West Asia turmoil subside and energy and packing costs cool off.

The brokerage expressed optimism on long-term demand fundamentals and said improving realisation together with an anticipated cost cool-off should support a margin rebound from H2 FY27 onward, underpinning favourable industry prospects over the medium term. Its outlook rests on monsoon normalisation and a decline in imported fuel prices in the second half of the fiscal year.

Concrete

Dalmia Bharat Begins Rs 31 Bn Green Cement Unit in Kadapa

New Andhra Pradesh plant to add 9.6 MTPA cement capacity by FY28

Published

1 week ago

July 16, 2026

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Dalmia Bharat Limited recently laid the foundation stone for its second manufacturing unit at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. The company will invest Rs 31 billion in developing the next-generation integrated cement manufacturing facility.

The foundation-laying ceremony was attended by Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh Minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Communications, Real-Time Governance and Human Resources Development, along with Puneet Dalmia, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dalmia Bharat, senior government officials and company representatives.

Scheduled to be commissioned by the third quarter of FY28, the Kadapa unit will become Dalmia Bharat’s largest integrated manufacturing facility in southern India. It will have a clinker production capacity of 6.1 million tonnes per annum and a cement manufacturing capacity of 9.6 million tonnes per annum.

The facility is designed to produce what the company describes as one of the world’s greenest cements. It is also expected to generate approximately 1,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities while supporting local MSMEs, transporters, contractors and service providers.

Lokesh said the investment reflected Dalmia Bharat’s confidence in Andhra Pradesh and aligned with the state’s objective of promoting sustainable industrialisation, job creation and technology-led economic growth.

Puneet Dalmia said the project represented the company’s long-term vision of developing low-carbon cement manufacturing assets. He added that the facility would establish new benchmarks in operational efficiency and sustainability while supporting India’s infrastructure and environmental goals.

Dalmia Bharat will also expand its regional community development programmes in education, healthcare, skill development and welfare through its DIKSHa and Gram Parivartan initiatives.

The company currently has an installed cement manufacturing capacity of 54.7 million tonnes across 19 manufacturing units in 12 states. It is also the first cement company globally to commit to the RE100, EP100 and EV100 initiatives.