Government Policy in Cement Sector in India

Six industries viz. Aluminum, cement, fertilizer, iron and steel, glass, and paper are energy-intensive industries. Together they consumer 40% fuel in the manufacturing sector. All of them have a common problem of drastic power cuts, mainly due to shortage of coal. Other problems include inadequate availability of wagons for transport; limited availability of furnace oil. Further, since the industry is dependent on infrastructure activity and demand from real estate sector; any slump in these would directly affect the industry. In recent times, most companies are sitting on idle capacity due to low demand.

Government Policy

Cement was one of the government controlled industries earlier. Partial decontrol was introduced in 1982 and with 1991 policy reforms, all controls were withdrawn. Today, Government allows 100% FDI in cement industry. However, due to environment concerns, the cement industry has to comply to stringent environment rules.