Concrete

A cornerstone of the Indian cement industry

Published

2 years ago

October 16, 2024

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Some things are changing at FLSmidth Cement, but most remain the same, as the company’s Indian head, Manoj Taneja, explained to Indian Cement Review.

FLSmidth Cement is changing. Over recent years, the company’s pureplay strategy has separated its cement and mining businesses, and the cement business is now undergoing divestment: news that was met by some with uncertainty. However, according to Manoj Taneja, Head of India Cluster and Designated Partner in FLSmidth Cement India LLP, this has all been a “good move” that allows the cement business to “take control of our future”.
Taneja began his professional career as a service engineer at EEL India Ltd, a manufacturer of various material handling and bag packing systems acquired by FLSmidth in 2009. He has led the company’s Indian operations since 2022. “It is an exciting time at FLSmidth Cement. With pureplay and the divestment, we can now chart our own course. The most obvious example of this in our Indian business is consolidating our manufacturing footprint into a single facility near our corporate headquarters in Chennai. This allows us to focus exclusively on our cement clients, improving efficiency and responsiveness, simplifying logistics, and centralising our expertise into a single point of excellence. Chennai also offers good access to the rest of the country, making it easier for clients to visit our factory for inspections and performance testing.”
The corporate headquarters is also moving as the company seeks offices that better match its needs. “As we continue to embrace a flexible post-COVID working model, finding a workspace that supports this shift and provides our employees with a favourable working environment is essential,” Taneja explained. “We are staying in Chennai, however, and currently undertaking a site selection process that aims to limit the inconvenience caused to employees.”

A name you can rely on
Some things, however, remain constant. “We are still delivering the same industry-leading equipment and services as we have always done,” according to Taneja. Nowhere is this more obvious than the record-setting new clinker line at Shree Cement Ltd’s Nawalgahr plant in Rajasthan. Inaugurated in December 2023 with a guaranteed capacity of 11,500 tph, the plant is averaging daily clinker production of 13,695 tonnes. The line features a four-string preheater with low-NOX calciner, a 6m dia. x 88m long kiln, and the largest Cross Bar® Cooler ever delivered, with a grate area of over 325m2.
Shree Cement Ltd also recently signed their first group-level PlantLine™ service agreement in India, covering all current and future FLSmidth Cement automation solutions across seven plants. “PlantLine agreements aim to maintain the operational excellence of digital and automation solutions through a comprehensive, customisable range of services,” explained Tanega. “The Shree Cement agreement puts us just shy of 300 PlantLine agreements globally and shows the increasing significance of services that help improve and maintain plant performance.”
“One of the main benefits of our services is access to specialist (and potentially hard-to-acquire) skills and experience,” continued Taneja. “Our global network offers 24/7 access to support from a world-leading team of experts in all aspects of the cement-making process, plant, equipment, and automation systems, wherever you are in the world.”

Renewed focus on cement
Another outcome of the company’s pureplay transition is “keeping our cement clients front and centre of our activities; there is no competition with mining,” emphasised Taneja. “For example, here, in India, we recently ran nine client-focused webinars on diverse topics, all on the theme of enhancing equipment reliability. These sessions received an overwhelming response, attracting over 100 participants each, from all levels of client organisations, which indicates the widespread interest and engagement in the topics discussed.”
Webinars are a “great way to exchange and foster closer collaboration between us and our clients,” Taneja added. “However, we also understand the importance of face-to-face meetings and will attend several upcoming in-person conferences.”
This includes the upcoming 18th NCB International Conference and Exhibition in New Delhi, where FLSmidth Cement will present papers on various topics, including a paper on alternative fuels. “We are particularly excited about the impending commercial launch of our new FUELFLEX® Pyrolyzer, which uses hot meal from the lower preheater cyclones to dry and pyrolyze hard-to-burn refuse-derived fuels or biomass,” said Taneja. This innovative new equipment enables cement plants to achieve up to 100% fossil fuel replacement in the calciner, cutting CO2 emissions, diverting waste from landfills, and reducing fuel costs.
Other topics to be presented include a paper on the digital cement plant and another on supplementary cementitious materials, focusing on calcined clay. “We see growing interest in technologies that reduce the carbon intensity of cement,” explained Taneja. “Part of our core mission is to help the cement industry address and reduce its environmental impact. We are also fortunate to have some of the industry’s true sustainability leaders here in India, opening the way for collaborative innovation to solve these most pressing issues.”

A past to build the future on
“Change is a fact of life,” concluded Taneja. “This is particularly true in a dynamic and changing market such as the Indian cement industry. However, there are some things you can rely on throughout all the changes. One of those cornerstones is FLSmidth Cement. We remain committed to supplying equipment, services, and solutions that
improve the cement industry – just as we have always done.”

(Communication by the management of the company)

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Cement Makers’ Margins To Fall Rs 50-75 Per Tonne Amid West Asia Conflict

Crisil Sees Margins Easing Despite Steady Demand

Published

1 week ago

July 29, 2026

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Crisil said operating margins of Indian cement manufacturers are expected to decline by Rs 50-75 per tonne (t) this fiscal to Rs 925-950 per t due to higher input costs triggered by the West Asia conflict. The analysis covered 18 cement companies accounting for nearly 90 per cent of India’s domestic cement capacity and noted margins had improved sharply to around Rs 1,000 per t in fiscal 2026.

Crisil noted that the reduction would be driven mainly by higher power and fuel costs, which account for about 30 per cent of total costs, as petcoke and imported coal prices have surged amid geopolitical uncertainties. Freight costs, which account for about a quarter of total costs, are also expected to remain elevated because of higher diesel prices. The impact on profitability is likely to be more pronounced in the first half of the fiscal year before easing commodity prices moderate cost pressures later.

The rating agency said steady domestic demand and strong balance sheets should keep credit profiles stable despite the moderation in margins. Green energy currently accounts for 35-40 per cent of the sector’s total electricity consumption and is expected to partly cushion higher energy costs. Operating cash flows are likely to remain resilient, supported by projected 6-7 per cent growth in cement demand this fiscal.

Crisil highlighted that demand growth will be driven primarily by infrastructure spending, which meets about one-third of sector consumption, and by a nearly 18 per cent higher budgetary allocation for core ministries that should support project execution. Weaker rural housing demand amid pressure on agricultural incomes from a possible below-average monsoon may be offset by improved urban housing demand supported by favourable home-loan rates and a strong pipeline of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban projects. Ongoing capacity additions will keep capital expenditure elevated and may lift net debt to EBITDA to between 1.2 and 1.4 times from around 1.0 time last fiscal, though ratios are expected to remain healthy.

Concrete

UltraTech Board Approves Rs 50 bn Fundraise Via NCDs

Company to issue half a million debentures for expansion plan

Published

1 week ago

July 28, 2026

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UltraTech Cement’s board of directors has approved raising Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 bn) through non?convertible debentures issued in rupees.

The finance committee cleared a proposal to issue up to 500,000 fully paid, unsecured, listed, rated, redeemable, rupee?denominated, non?convertible, non?cumulative debentures of Rs 1 lakh each (Rs 0.1 mn each), aggregating to the Rs 5,000 crore programme.

As of June 2026 the firm reported net debt of Rs 15,875 crore (Rs 158.75 bn) and said its capacity expansion projects under execution are backed by capital expenditure of about Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 170 bn) over the next two to two?and?a?half years.

UltraTech spent Rs 9,500 crore (Rs 95 bn) on capital expenditure in financial year 2026 and in April the group crossed 200.1 mn tonnes per annum of domestic grey cement capacity and 205.5 mn tonnes per annum of global capacity.

The chief financial officer indicated the company would take consolidated capacity beyond 242 mn tonnes per annum, with grey cement capacity reaching 212.7 mn tonnes per annum by the end of financial year 2027. He noted the net debt?to?earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation ratio stood at 0.87 times as of June 2026 and the company was confident of ending financial year 2027 with the ratio below one time.

In the first quarter of financial year 2026?27 UltraTech’s net profit attributable to owners rose 16.8 per cent year?on?year to Rs 2,599.3 crore (Rs 25.993 bn) and revenue from operations increased 15.9 per cent to Rs 24,648.20 crore (Rs 246.482 bn). The board approval is expected to complement internal cash flows as the company advances its expansion programme.

Concrete

Lokesh Lays Stone For Rs 31 Billion Cement Unit In Kadapa

Line-2 expansion to make Kadapa a major cement hub

Published

2 weeks 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.