The CEO of Holcim indicated that the company was conservative in its India strategy

Holcim’s departure from India, where it had two very successful companies, is a matter of time. As the Indian cement sector embarks on a journey behind high infrastructure costs, it makes perfect sense for its operations – Ambuja Cement and ACC – to move into top gear. However, it has decided to sell the entire to Adani Group for 10.5 billion.

Answer to a question from Business today Whether Holcim was too conservative in his India story, its global CEO, Jan Jensich, said, “We could probably have done more in India, but in our opinion, we had a better strategy.” Holcim entered India in 2004 through Ambuja and later ACC.

Today, Holcim sits at a capacity of 70 million tons (the total number is about 500 million tons nationally) presence across India and two strong brands. However, the company’s expansion strategy has gone completely organic, with some high-quality assets coming their way through bankruptcy and bankruptcy codes. Among them were Binani, JP and Murali, which were acquired by its competitors such as Ultratech, Shree Cement and Dalmia. While organic growth has moderated optimally with the gap between them and the market leader, UltraTech has only narrowed the gap with Holcim with smaller players.

According to Jensich, Holcim had a good strategy in India. “We have launched new products and moved on to digitization. In fact, we have announced two new cement plants as well, ”he said. On the specific issue of making the competition more aggressive, he said Business today That Ambuja and ACC had a good brand and “Holsim is quite happy with what he has done in India.”

From a global strategy perspective, the objective is to go green and adopt decarbonization strategies. For Holcim, this is part of Strategy 2025, which is leading the way with sustainable building solutions. Previously, it had either exited or removed its assets in markets such as Brazil, Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland, Russia and Malaysia. This has been done with the acquisition of resources in the United States and Europe on the green platform to increase its revenue from solutions and products.

Read more: Adani Group to acquire Holcim India business for 10.5 billion

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