Are local cement companies facing any threat due to price war from the upcountry companies?
At a time when Andhra had surplus supplies, the upcountry cement companies used to dump their surplus whenever the prices were high in the state and eat into the profits of local players. Now, with the demand shooting through the roof all over the country, we do not foresee any such threat in future. The most important factor for better prices is consolidation of the industry. It has just begun and we will see more consolidation in the next two years. This time price war would be waged for acquisition of cement plants. How about the overseas cement exports from the state? There are many enquiries for cement with reasonable prices. About 36 states in the US are facing shortage of cement and their construction activity has slowed down. To overcome the problem, the US has relaxed the import duty on cement recently. What are your expansion plans? We are increasing our capacity to around 6 lakh tonnes a year by acquiring state-of-the-art equipment. This will not only bring down the cost of
