(Bloomberg) -- Dalmia Bharat Ltd., India's fourth-largest cement manufacturer, is seeing a recovery in demand for the construction material as the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country begins to wane and the nation's government spends more on infrastructure.
“We are hoping in next two-three months things should be better,” Dalmia Bharat Managing Director Puneet Dalmia said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “It will be mostly driven by government spending on infrastructure and housing,” with private investments and real estate becoming the demand drivers in 18 months.
Cement demand in the country had dipped 30% in June quarter 2020 following a strict national lock-down but bounced back quickly after, registering double-digit growth in the following nine months. The demand, mainly fueled by a recovery in rural areas as people started building bigger homes or adding rooms to their existing structures, had softened in April and May this year before picking up again, the managing director said.
The manufacturer is also focused on reducing the cost of production and carbon footprint by using waste materials from other industries, he said. The company is hoping to be carbon negative by 2040 and currently has current carbon emissions which are as much as 30% lower than the global average, according to Dalmia.
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