In the last 2-3 years, there has been an exponential rise in the construction industry. How do you look at this situation as a market for the ready mix concrete industry?
Ready mix concrete industry has been growing at around 10 to 12 per cent CAGR and contributing significantly to the construction industry since it aids to faster completion of construction projects involving less workers. Apart from this there has been a trend to outsource the concrete making to the agencies, whose core competency is concrete technology so that they can focus on development or construction activity.

After demonetisation, there has been slowdown in announcements of new projects and real estate sector is among the worst hit sectors. However the demand would continue to increase and organised players will have advantage with introduction of Real Estate Regulations & Development Act. Infrastructure sector is very positive with government spending and lot many new projects are reaching execution stage and it will be really good of RMC industry.
What is the status of the quality of concrete that is currently used in construction?
There has been significant improvement in quality of concrete due to awareness about benefits of the government promoted QCI scheme for ready mix concrete plants. Most of the organised sectors are having adequate infrastructure in plant for maintaining quality to the required standards and meet the requirements of QCI. Further, construction industry is also going for higher grades of concrete including increased focus on durability. Still there is a scope for grades higher than M20/M25 which helps in slender columns, longer spans, more carpet area etc. Area like Mumbai and some metros are having many proactive owners and designers, who are going with higher grades upto M95 grade, which will encourage others to adapt to higher grades and reap benefits. Ready mix concrete is innovative and higher grades are being produced by many RMC players to meet the demand of customers.

According to you how will the year 2017 be for the concrete sector?
Concrete sector will contribute significantly in year 2017 and there has been increased demand in metros and major cities. It is expected that after Q1, growth would be higher, which was impacted after demonetisation last year. With GST coming in, more discipline would come in terms of compliances, which is presently impacted by unorganised players. We are quite upbeat about 2017 with good growth in the concrete sector.

The business world in India is slowly coming to terms in the post demonetisation era. How will this impact your industry?
Post demonetisation, property prices have been corrected and bank interest rates are also coming down. Investors were busy in reorganising their finances after demonetisation and buyers were waiting for the property prices to correct.  Now the business is coming to terms after demonetisation and new ways are being looked at to improve businesses. Construction industry too is following suit and more transparency is coming in real estate sector. RMC industry had some impact initially and now things are improving. This sector will have more disciplined players.

The high profile GST bill is slated for July. Will GST change the way India does business?
Preparedness in construction sector in view of GST and Real Estate Regulation & Development Act is key to construction sectors. Players who are most adoptive to change will have advantage. Construction industry is one, which will have major impact since it uses many materials within state and also from interstate. Everyone is waiting for the final tax treatment to various input materials.

With many industries coming up in the ready mix concrete market, how will you deal with the increasing competition?
Concrete market is growing at a faster rate and competition is increasing every day.  Players who are able to understand customer’s needs and provide solutions would be performing better apart from internal cost controls and efficiency improvements.

We are innovating on a continuous basis and developing solutions to the newer customer’s needs. We are working closely with clients to partner in speedy execution of their projects. We are in forefront in technology and innovation with unmatched service.

How do you look at the upcoming technological advances in this sector?
Most of the technological innovations in RMC industry have been in the field of concrete technology and some in operations front. Industry is moving towards high grade concrete mainly because of high rise towers and infrastructure works like Metro and flyovers. Focus on durability criteria has increased and life cycle cost is being closely looked in to leading to newer products. To speed up construction projects, self-compacting concrete and high early strength concrete are in the forefront in terms of usage. Use of mineral and chemical admixtures have increased in last few years and being used extensively for new innovations in concrete technology like thermal insulation, waterproofing, coloured concrete, decorative concrete etc. Even pot holes of bituminous road can be repaired quickly with concrete products and opened for traffic in few hours.

With the growing awareness for environment friendly products, how green are your products?
Most of our products today are green since by-products of thermal and steel industry like flyash and GGBS are being extensively used in concrete. Use of such products like high volume flyash concrete, porous concrete, and thermocrete reaches to 50 to 70 per cent and are more durable than normal concrete.

Could you give us an outlook for the future?
Outlook for future will not just be normal concrete but it will be different kind of concrete products which will help the builder or contractor to save time and cost because their core competency is construction and our core competency is to make concrete and support this concrete industry. With new kind of value added products, RMC industry will be helping the core construction industry to deliver the projects within shorter duration. RMC industry has to keep on innovating and developing newer technologies to support the needs of construction industry and to work together like partners to create a win-win situation. RMC demand will continue to grow in medium and small cities in future in view of increased customer’s awareness.