Adani to bring all cement units under one roof; eyes 140 mt single entity

To sell promote Adani Cement brand alongwith ACC, Ambuja brands

The Adani group has started the process to consolidate all its cement operations under a single entity as part of its “One Business, One Company” strategy. The group is doing this in a bid to create a streamlined and efficient cement powerhouse, housing both Ambuja and ACC brands, among others.

 

As part of this ambitious integration plan, the Adani group has started the formal process of merging two of its recently acquired companies — Sanghi Industries and Penna Cement — into Ambuja Cements. This process is expected to conclude by December, according to people aware of the development. However, the group will promote “Adani Cement” as the mother brand, for which it has already started the process of brand awareness.

 

Orient Cement, acquired from the CK Birla group in October last year, is now expected to function purely as a manufacturing arm within the Adani Cement fold, the source said. Orient Cement has already been seamlessly integrated with minimal volume disruption, despite legacy brand and pricing differences, officials said. Nearly 60 per cent of Orient Cement dealers have already begun stocking Ambuja and ACC, indicating swift brand alignment on the ground to more premium products.  

 

 

The strategy is aimed at simplifying operations, optimising costs, and strengthening brand visibility across markets — key steps as Adani ramps up its cement ambitions following a series of aggressive acquisitions over the past year. 

 

After merger of the units, further consolidation is in the pipeline. A potential merger of Ambuja Cements with its subsidiary ACC is under active consideration. This would effectively bring all of Adani’s cement assets of over 140 million tonnes of capacity under one entity, making it a more formidable player against industry leader UltraTech.

 

The consolidation drive marks the next phase of the Adani group’s cement ambitions, following its $10.5 billion acquisition of Ambuja and ACC from Swiss major Holcim in 2022.

 

An email sent to the Adani group did not elicit any response till the time of going to press.

 

The group is now the country’s second-largest cement player. It is targeting 200 million tonnes of capacity by 2030 as part of its $20 billion per year capital expenditure (capex) plan, and seeks to capitalise on India’s infrastructure and housing boom.

 

Ambuja Cements closed 2.5 per cent up at ₹594 per share on Wednesday with a total market valuation of ₹1.46 trillion. ACC, on the other hand, closed 1 per cent up at ₹1,939 a share with a total valuation of ₹36,472 crore.

 

As it consolidates operations, Ambuja has outlined an aggressive cost optimisation plan, targeting savings of ₹550 per tonne by 2026-27 (FY27). The cost-cutting road map includes several key levers, including power and fuel savings of ₹280-300 per tonne through a rampup of renewable energy capacity from 375 megawatt to 1,000 megawatt by June 2026, and a target of sourcing 60 per cent of total power from green energy.

 

Additionally, the cement companies are also planning raw material savings of ₹100 per tonne by securing long-term fly ash supply agreements and 10 million tonnes of slag in eastern India, and a logistics savings of ₹100 per tonne via network optimisation.

 

The Adani group is also planning to bring in a younger workforce, with the average employee age falling from 41 to 37, and then to 35.