JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd is sharpening its focus on protecting and selectively gaining market share in its core regions of North, West and East India, even as the country’s cement industry enters a phase of aggressive capacity additions by larger peers.
The Singhania family-owned company, amongst the top 10 cement-makers of the country, recently announced a ₹3,000 crore expansion plan focusing on its core markets.
The expansion plans have been designed not just to chase scale, “but to defend relevance and strengthen its position in markets where it already commands strong demand and high utilisation,” Arun Shukla, president and director of JK Lakshmi Cement, told Mint during an interview.
The cement company, which last week announced its December quarter results, reported a 6% increase in revenue to ₹1,588 crore. Net profit was down 23% to ₹57 crore.
“Our strategy is very clear—wherever we operate, we want to be relevant and formidable,” he said. “The company’s priority is to protect market share and, where possible, increase it in existing geographies rather than pursue a pan-India footprint,” Shukla added.
JK Lakshmi Cement currently operates at 73% capacity utilisation for the first nine months of FY26, higher than the industry average of 70%, he said.
Cement capacity utilisation has increased to around 70% from a decadal average of about 65%, driven by strong demand over the past three years, especially from infrastructure and housing projects, according to a Crisil Ratings note in November 2025.
Shukla said utilisation exceeds 90-95% during the company's peak demand months (November-June). This leaves little headroom to serve customers during high-demand periods, unless capacity is expanded and risk looking market share, he said.
Capacity constraints
The capex will add 4.6 million tonnes (mt) of cement capacity, bringing total installed capacity to 22.6 mt by FY28, up from 18 mt currently. The plan is to further take it up to 30 mt. The expansion includes a new clinker unit and grinding facilities at Durg, Chhattisgarh, along with three greenfield split-grinding units in adjacent markets.
In cement, clinker, and grinding units are different. A clinker transforms limestone into hard nodules, and a grinding unit crushes the clinker with gypsum into fine powder.
The announcement follows recent capacity expansion plans by India’s largest cement players. In October, UltraTech Cement, the country’s biggest cement maker, increased its capacity target from 167 mtpa to 240 mtpa by 2027-28. Days later in November, the Adani Group raised its cement manufacturing capacity target by nearly 10% to 155 mtpa by 2027-28.
Industry utilization rose from 63% in FY21 to 68% in FY25, but a wave of new projects will now stall that recovery, according to a PL Capital report in December. Utilization will stay below 70% through FY28, limiting how much companies can charge, the report added.
The expansion plan will be funded through a 70:30 mix of debt and internal accruals. Shukla didn’t specify details but said the company’s net debt-to-Ebitda remains below 1 and “will stay within comfortable levels during the capex cycle”.
JK Lakshmi said cement remains a regional business, with market leadership varying sharply across geographies. “Even today, the top five players in the east, north or south are different. Regional strength still matters,” Shukla said. At 18 mt annual capacity, JK Lakshmi still remains a regional player.
JK Lakshmi is also looking to strengthen its market share through premiumization.
Premiumization play
Premium products currently account for 13–14% of overall turnover, a figure the company expects will rise to around 16% over the medium term (six months to one year), driven by demand for higher-strength and lower-carbon products, Shukla said.
On Monday, the company launched its third premium cement.
Other cement makers, such as Nuvoco Vistas Corp. and Birla Corp., are also increasing their focus on premium products to lift margins, as an alternative to price hikes. Analysts said the strategy is unlikely to work in the long term, Mint reported earlier.
"In a commodity sector like cement, premium sales and cost savings don’t necessarily translate into higher Ebitda per tonne, as competitive intensity forces the benefit to be passed on to customers," Satyadeep Jain, analyst at Ambit Capital, told Mint earlier. “Premiumization is unlikely to lead to any structural increase in industry margins, especially if everyone succeeds in raising premium share."
JK Lakshmi expects to post double-digit volume growth in FY26, outpacing the industry’s estimated 7–8% growth, supported by infrastructure spending and steady housing demand.