Cement Makers’ Lobby Expects Demand To Grow 7-8% This Year
Cement industry will grow provided the funds promised by government come in, says president of Cement Manufacturers Association.
Demand for cement is expected to grow 7-8 percent this year on account of the government’s massive push to infrastructure in the budget, according to Cement Manufacturers Association’s President Mahendra Singhi.
In 2018-19, cement demand stood at 12-13 percent. In the last three months, the demand has been subdued because of a host of reasons, including a long-election period that led to dislocation of workers, Singhi, the president at the cement makers’ lobby, told BloombergQuint in an interview. “From July onward, the expectations are that the government’s infrastructure spend will come out in the market…It looks like the cement demand may revive.” Typically, cement demand remains subdued during the monsoon—July-October. “But we are talking of long term,” he said.
Presenting the budget of 2019-20 earlier this month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised on the need to invest heavily in infrastructure. The government proposed to restructure the National Highways Programme to create network of highways grids for better connectivity, invest Rs 50 lakh crore in railways infrastructure, and build 1.95 crore houses as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin over the next two years.
Watch the full interview here: