“We are leveraging this expanded manufacturing footprint to reduce our operating costs, particularly logistics costs, and improve our customer service by reducing lead time and leveraging our strong nationwide distribution network,” he told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.
After expanding its capacity by over 13.3 million tons in the previous fiscal year, UltraTech exceeded the 150 million tons production capacity mark in April.
Birla had announced the company’s target of crossing 200 million tonne capacity at its AGM last year. With its ongoing capacity expansions and acquisitions of Kesoram Cement and The India Cements, the company is on track to cross this mark by 2026-27 (April-March), he said on Wednesday.
“Your company has embarked on a capacity expansion on a scale that is unprecedented in the cement industry globally,” Birla said.
The infrastructure sector in India is poised for remarkable growth with a likely growth rate of over 15% annually over the next five years. “Our ambitious capacity expansion builds on the significant long-term growth opportunities for the cement sector in India,” he said. The market leader in cement in India posted revenues of close to Rs 70,000 crore and operating profits of Rs 13,586 crore during 2023-24 (April-March). The company plans to increase the share of green energy in its overall mix to 85% by 2030 and will soon hit the 1,000 MW green power mark, enabled by the planned increases in renewable energy and WHRS capacities, it said. In FY24, the company had 890 MW green power capacity, it said.
UltraTech has been the cement supplier for several key projects including the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, the Mumbai Coastal Motorway, the Surat Diamond Bourse and the Rajkot International Airport.
