Mumbai: Pakistan cement manufacturers, who on Wednesday got the mandatory certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), will soon start exporting the product.
BIS has granted quality certification to two Pakistan cement manufacturers—Lucky Cement Ltd and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd.
As a result of the imports, the western and northern regions of India could see a slight reduction in the market prices of cement.
“We are looking at exporting 4-5 million tonnes (mt),” said Mohammad Abid Ganatra, director of finance at Lucky Cement, in a telephone interview. “Initially, our cement will reach the western coast. When the governments open up borders more, we will export cement by road as well.”
Gujarat and Maharashtra have a capacity of around 32mt, while the northern region has a capacity of making 35-36mt of cement per year.
“The landed cost of cement in the western region would be around Rs195 per bag,” said Rupesh Sankhe, an analyst with ICICIdirect.com, an online share and mutual funds trading portal.
Pesi Dabdi, Lucky Cement’s India representative, said, “The cement will reach Nhava Sheva port in Mumbai and will cross the Wagah border by rail to Amritsar. The cement will be sold within the radius of 100km.”
Maple Leaf officials could not be reached for a comment.