What has the growth in demand in the cement industry, in general, and Gujarat Ambuja, in particular, been like?
In the last two months, Gujarat Ambuja has been growing at 40 to 45 per cent per month. If you look at the first quarter from April to July 2002, the growth in demand has been almost 12.5 per cent. We clocked about 102 million tonne of total production and despatch, in spite of the rate of economic growth being just around five per cent for FY02. In India, the demand for cement has been good during the last 18 months. I think this tempo will continue for two reasons, the first being that the housing sector is doing well and the second is the road construction programme of the government, which are underway. How has Gujarat Ambuja made possible a cost savings of Rs 5 per bag of cement produced in 2001-02? There were three parameters on which our cost came down. They are interest, freight and power. Cost of production and direct cost have come down by almost Rs 2 to Rs 2.50. If you include freight and interest, it will add up to Rs 5 or may be even more than that. What has been the contr
