Chennai : IndiaMART, India’s largest business-to-business (B2B) marketplace, unveiled an industry report on cement titled “Cementing Growth: An Indian Perspective on the Cement Industry”, as the country celebrates National Concrete Day (Sept 7). The report reflects key trends in the cement and construction sector, and is based on the extensive business interactions between buyers and sellers dealing in the sector on IndiaMART over the past couple of years.
Today, cement is one of the eight core industries in India, with 583 tonnes of manufacturing capacity installed and 391 million tonnes annual production output generated. The industry achieved a y-o-y growth rate of 6.8% in FY23 and is projected to grow at 8% in FY25. With this, the projected increase in output between FY25-28 will amount to 150-160 million tonnes. The overall impact of the cement industry on the economy is substantiated by the multiplier effect of 4.16x on economic output and 1.53x on GDP. For every million tonnes of installed cement production capacity, 20,000 downstream jobs are created, indicating the role of cement in the country’s growth.
Currently, 8% of total paid sellers on IndiaMART deal in construction and building raw material, making it one of the top categories for the platform. In the past five years (2019-23), the platform received 15.5 million enquiries regarding cement with top ten states including Uttar Pradesh (16%), Maharashtra (9%), Bihar (8%), Tamil Nadu (7%), Rajasthan (7%), Karnataka (7%), West Bengal (6%), Madhya Pradesh (5%), Telangana (5%) and Andhra Pradesh (4%).
While unveiling the report, Dinesh Gulati, Chief Operating Officer (COO) IndiaMART InterMESH Limited, stated, “IndiaMART continues to remain #1 choice for sellers and business buyers in cement and construction to connect digitally. Having facilitated more than 15 million enquiries in five years, it is clearly a testament to how enormous this category is. Our report comes with invaluable insights into the cement industry – all captured at one place, with a glimpse on how IndiaMART continues to be a favorable destination for cement suppliers and buyers to engage online. We are hopeful that this report will help improve the shopping experience for buyers and add value to the operational decisions of cement suppliers on our platform and beyond.”
Cement remains a core area of growth for the Indian economy, owing to increasing demand in rural and urban housing. Added to it, the government’s initiatives to invest in infrastructure development, housing, and transportation infrastructure are poised to provide a significant boost to the sector. The report will support buyers and suppliers in the sector to leverage the interesting trends and chart the journey of growth for themselves.
