After completing the acquisition of Ambuja Cements Ltd and ACC Ltd, Gautam Adani, the patriarch of the Adani group, has been appointed as chairman of Ambuja Cements’ board. Karan Adani, elder son of Gautam Adani, was appointed chairman and non-executive director at ACC.
Karan will also be a non-executive director at Ambuja Cements; Holcim’s representatives have quit the boards. Currently, Karan Adani is the CEO of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ).
The Ambuja Cements’ board also approved a preferential allotment of convertible warrants to an Adani group promoter entity, to raise an additional Rs 20,000 crore. This fund will be used to create additional capacity with the aim to become India’s biggest cement player by 2030.
What makes cement an exciting business is headroom for growth in India which exceeds that of every other country well beyond 2050. Cement is a game of economics dependent on energy costs, logistics and distribution costs, and the ability to leverage a digital platform to transform production, as well as gain significant supply chain efficiencies. Each one of these capabilities is a core business for us and therefore, provides our cement business a set of unmatched adjacencies,” Adani group chief Gautam Adani said.
“It is these adjacencies that eventually drive competitive economics. In addition, our position as one of the largest renewable energy companies in the world will help us manufacture premium quality green cement well in line with the principles of a circular economy. All of these dimensions put us on track to become the largest and most efficient manufacturer of cement by no later than 2030,” Adani said.
Aditya Birla group company UltraTech Cement is currently India’s largest cement company with a capacity of 120 mtpa (million tonnes per annum). Ambuja Cements and ACC, on the other hand, currently have a combined installed production capacity of 67.5 mtpa.
