Pest Analysis On Cement Industry - December 2nd, 2010 In 2002 the world production of hydraulic cement was 1,800

million metric tons. The top three producers were China with 704, India with 100, and the United Stat es with 91 million metric tons for a combined total of about half the world tota l by the world's three most populated states.[22] POLITICAL The price of cement is primarily controlled by the coal rates, power tariffs, ra ilway tariffs, freight, royalty and cess on limestone. Interestingly, government contr ols all of these prices. Government is also one of the biggest consumers of the cement in the cou ntry. Most state governments, in order to attract investments in their respective states, offer f iscal incentives in the form of sales tax exemptions/deferrals. States like Haryana offer a freeze o n power tariff for 5 years, while Gujarat offers exemption from electric duty. (India Infoline Ltd n.d.) ECONOMIC Currently, the industry is on the boom, with a lot of government infrastructure and housing projects under construction. In spite of seeing a fall during 2008-09, the expor t segment of the industry is expected to grow again on account of various infrastructure projects that are being taken up all over the world and numerous outstanding cement plants coming up in near future in the country SOCIAL Usually, the cement industry in India consists of both the organized sector and the unorganized sector. Organized sector comprises of the well-known cement manu facturing companies while the main players of the unorganized sector are the reg ional and local cement-producing units in various states across the state. India n consumers prefer buying branded cement like ULTRATECH, JAYPEE CEMENT, LAFARGE CEMENT etc. It has been seen in the past, as well, that mini cement plants with low brand value and image are not able to sur vive against the cement giants. With a population of more than 100 billion people, it is expected that cement industry will create another 25 lakhs jobs in the next 4-5 years. TECHNOLOGY From mining to production the entire process depends on technology. The Governme nt of India plans to study and possibly acquire new technologies from the cement industry of Japan. The government is discussing technology transfer in the field of energy conservation and environment protection to help improve efficiency of the Indian cement industry. Cement industry has made tremendous strides in technological up-gradation and assimilat ion of latest

technology. At present 93% of the total capacity in the industry is based on mod ern and environment-friendly dry process technology.