The Indian cement industry is on a roll, thanks to robust pricing, increasing profitability, infrastructure boom, government’s forward-looking policies, and the GST implementation. There is one company in the industry which has proved its excellence in the construction sector for three decades and lorded over other players and that is Ambuja Cements (ACL).
ACL is part of the global conglomerate LafargeHolcim, the world leader in the building materials industry with a presence in 80 countries and a focus on cement, aggregates, and concrete. Formerly known as Gujarat Ambuja Cement, the company’s principal activity is to manufacture and market cement and clinker for both domestic and export markets.
Being the undisputed leader among its peers, ACL has gone the extra mile by launching a high-grade product called ‘Ambuja Compocem’, which is a combination of cement, fly ash and slag. The company’s Chhattisgarh facility becomes the first cement plant in India to develop composite cement after rigorous research of the last year-and-a-half. The new offering has been rolled out in Bihar and Jharkhand markets and thus opens yet another avenue of sustainable products in the construction industry. With this, Ambuja Cement has addressed two vital aspects from customer’s perspective — offering higher compressive strength and long-term durability. The advanced product caters to all segments — Individual House Builders (IHB), large real estate and infrastructure projects in India.
CEO & MD Ajay Kapur said in a statement, “This product was developed in our laboratory by the product development and innovation team. With the launch of Ambuja Compocem, we have achieved a three pronged sustainability approach by conserving natural resources, creating a greener product and fulfilling customer needs for a superior performance product. We call this approach — delivering True Value.”
Ambuja Cements has also reinforced its strong commitment towards nation building by playing a vital role in the construction of the prestigious Chennai-Nashri road tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.
The other major development in the cement industry happened when the Mumbai-headquartered firm on 5 May announced its plans to merge with another cement-making giant ACC. At present, ACL has a capacity of 29.65 MTPA (metric tonnes per annum) with five integrated plants and eight cement grinding units across the country. ACC, on the other hand, has a total of 33.41 MTPA with 17 cement factories. It is to be noted that both ACC and Ambuja Cements became part of the Holcim group in 2005 and are all set to become a powerhouse when they get amalgamated.
Meanwhile, Ambuja is also the first Indian cement manufacturer having a captive port with three terminals along the country’s western coastline to facilitate timely, cost effective and environmentally cleaner shipments of bulk cement to its customers. The company has its own fleet of ships and its subsidiaries include Dang Cement Industries, MGT Cements, Chemical Limes Mundwa and Dirk India.
Incorporated in 1981, the company was established as a joint venture between the public sector Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation (GIIC) and Narottam Sekhsaria & Associates. On 19 May 1983, the company was rehabilitated into a public limited entity. Subsequently, it was rechristened Gujarat Ambuja Cements and later the name was changed to Ambuja Cements.