RESEARCH INSIGHT – 1

Company 1: UltraTech Cement Ltd

GENERAL OVERVIEW –
UltraTech Cement is engaged in the manufacturing and sale of Cement and Cement
related product primarily in India.

Manufacturing Capabilities

Co. has an installed capacity of 114 mtpa in India with a capacity utilization of 77%.
It has 23 integrated plants and 27 grinding units, seven bulk terminals, two white
cement and putty plants and over 100 ready mix concrete plants. Its operations span
across India, the UAE, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. No region accounts for
more than 25% of sales.
Leadership Position
Ultratech Cement is the largest cement company in India and 3rd largest cement
company in the world (ex-china) and is the largest cement manufacturer in India. It is
also the only cement producer outside of China to have 100+ MnTPA of
manufacturing capacity in a single country.

Brands

Its brands include Ultratech Cement, Ultratech Concrete, Ultratech building Products,
Ultratech Building solutions & Birla White Cement under which it sells various
different products.
Extensive Distribution Network

The company's distribution network consists of ~30,000 dealers, ~64,000 retailers,

~2,900 UBS outlets and a fleet of 60,000 trucks.
Reach
The company operates in four countries viz. UAE, Bahrain, Sri Lanka and India. It
has capacity of 1 MnTPA in Bahrain, 1.5 MnTPA in Sri Lanka & 4.4 MnTPA in
UAE. Foreign operations account for ~4% of total revenues in FY22

Research & Development

The company has 4 products/ processes patented to its name. In FY22, It spent 20
crores towards R&D. It recently developed new products like ultrahigh concrete,
concrete for 3D printing, Antiwashout concrete, Corrosion resistant concrete , etc.
through R&D.

Green Power

The company is focusing towards using green power for its operations. It aims to
increase green power share 36% by FY25 from 18% in FY22 of which 24%
would come from WHRS (Waste Heat Recovery System) and 8% from Solar. As of
march ‘22, WHRS capacity of the co. is 436 MW compared to 118 MwW in FY20.

Recent Acquisitions
In Jan 2022, Co. has executed a Share Purchase Agreement for acquiring 100%
equity shares in National Limestone Co. Subsidiary co., UCMEIL, acquired 29.79%
equity share capital of RAK Cement Co. (RAKWCT) for a consideration of US$
101.10 million.
Divestments

In 2020, the company sold its China operations which it got from the acquisition of
Binani Cement Ltd in 2018. It sold at a value of 900 crores. In 2019, the company
divested its Bangladesh operations to a Germany enterprise for ~211 crores INR.
Expansion

In FY22, Co. commissioned cement capacity of 3.2 mtpa at Patliputra, Bihar;

Dankuni, West Bengal and Line II of Bara Grinding Unit, UP. This is the first phase
of the 19.5 mtpa capacity expansion announced in December 2020. Co. has also
commenced operations from the bulk terminal at Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai, which is
their 7th bulk terminal. In June, 2022 Co. approved a capex of 12,886 crores towards
increasing capacity by 22.6 mtpa with a mix of brownfield and greenfield expansion.
New capacity is expected to go on stream in a phased manner by FY25.
SHAREHOLDING PATTERN –

Holder’s Name No. of Shares %Share Holding

No Of Shares 288670847 100%

Promoters 170338945 59.01%

Foreign Institutions 37881608 13.12%

N Banks Mutual Funds 36942340 12.8%

Central Govt 133376 0.05%

Others 6880674 2.38%

General Public 18002505 6.24%

Financial Institutions 15480353 5.36%

Foreign Promoter 2744168 0.95%

GDR 266878 0.09%

Promoters -

Individuals / Hindu Undivided Family

Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla

Smt. Rajashree Birla

Aditya Vikram Kumarmangalam Birla HUF

Smt. Neerja Birla
 Smt. Vasavadatta Bajaj

Any Other (specify)

Aditya Marketing and Manufacturing Limited

IGH Holding Private Limited

Hindalco Industries Limited

Grasim Industries Limited

And Many More

MANAGEMENT TEAM –

Mr. K. C. Jhanwar

Managing Director,
UltraTech Cement Limited.
Mr. K. C. Jhanwar, managing director of UltraTech Cement Limited, is a veteran
of the Aditya Birla Group with a career spanning more than 38 years in the Group.
A chartered accountant by profession, Mr Jhanwar joined the Cement business of
Aditya Birla Group as a management trainee in 1981.
Within the Group, he has worked across finance, operations and general
management roles in the cement and chemical sectors, and has expertise in project
management and commercial skills. He also has significant experience in
acquisitions and integration. He has been exceptional in his networking and
relationship building skills with customers and other stakeholders and has built a
strong franchise for the business. He has been a capable team builder and has
strong people skills.

Mr. E. R. Raj Narayanan

Business Head and Chief Manufacturing officer

Mr. Raj Narayanan is the Business Head and Chief Manufacturing officer of
UltraTech Cement Limited. Before joining UltraTech, he was Group Executive
President for Chlor Alkali and the VFY segments of Grasim Industries. During his
other stints within the group, he held positions as CEO of insulators & fertilizers
and Senior President of Overseas chemical businesses.

Prior to joining Aditya Birla Group in 2008, Mr. Raj Narayanan worked in leading
companies in the chemicals and industrial products space. He served as MD of
Linde Gases India Limited, MD of Lanxess India Private Limited, and Country
Head of Bayer Chemicals in India.

He was the recipient of Aditya Birla Group Chairman’s outstanding leader award
in 2018. He is a chemical engineer by qualification.

Mr Vivek Agrawal
Business Head and Chief Marketing Officer

Mr. Vivek Agrawal is Business Head and Chief Marketing Officer at UltraTech
Cement. Mr. Agrawal has spent a major part of his professional career at
UltraTech’s Cement Business, holding a number of critical positions. He joined the
Group in 1993 as a Zonal Manager in the Cement Marketing Division and went on
to hold important positions such as Zonal Head – Grey Cement South; Head,
Marketing – Birla White; and Head – RMC Business.

Mr. Agrawal took over as the CEO of the acquired entity Star Cement in 2010 and
in October 2013, took on the role of Chief Marketing Officer of the Cement
Business. Mr. Agrawal was named an Aditya Birla Fellow in 2017, and was a
recipient of the Chairman’s Outstanding Leader Award in 2019. He is a
B.E.(Hons.) from NIT Allahabad and MBA from FMS, Delhi. He has done his
Advanced Management Program (AMP) from Wharton Business School
Asia by the Institutional Investor magazine. Some of his key achievements include
acquisitions for over US$4 billion in the cement industry in India as well as
divestment of non-core assets outside India. He has also been instrumental in
setting up a state-of-the-art 700-member Shared Services Centre for the accounting
function of UltraTech.
Mr. Ramesh Mitragotri
Chief Human Resource Officer

Ramesh Mitragotri is an HR professional with about 35 years of experience across

different industries and sectors such as Consumer products, Electronics,
Engineering & Construction, Performance Materials, Cement, Retail and
Chemicals and in a range of companies from family-owned and managed to
multinational organizations. He has been involved in Organisation Transformation
and Changes Management over different life cycles of a business. His
understanding of business and partnership with line managers has seen him
successfully steer the organizations through challenging times.
He joined Aditya Birla Group in 2007 as Head – HR (Marketing Division) in
Cement Business. In 2009, he moved to Aditya Birla Retail Limited as Chief
People Officer. In 2015, he moved briefly as Group Head – Employee Relations
when he was entrusted with early work of aligning Century group to ABG ways of
working among other responsibilities. He then moved as CHRO - Chemical,
Fertilisers and Insulators business. In November 2016, took over as CHRO for
UltraTech Cement which is undergoing rapid expansion through acquisitions and
organic growth during this period.

Mr. Ashish Dwivedi

CEO – Birla White
Mr. Ashish Dwivedi is the CEO of Birla White, the white cement business of
UltraTech Cement Limited. He is a chemical engineer and an MBA. He has been
with the Aditya Birla Group for over 23 years. He has been an integral part of
several strategic initiatives including mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and
building up of Group processes.
Prior to his current role, he was President of Speciality Chemicals and Business
Strategy for Chemical, Fertilizer and Insulator sector of the Group. He built the
downstream speciality chemicals business across multiple products and was
responsible for upstream salt business.
STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES &
THREATS (SWOT) –

UltraTech Cements Strengths

The strengths of UltraTech Cements looks at the key aspects of its business which
gives it competitive advantage in the market. Some important factors in a brand's
strengths include its financial position, experienced workforce, product uniqueness
& intangible assets like brand value. Below are the Strengths in the SWOT
Analysis of UltraTech Cements :
1. It is India’s biggest cement company.
2. It is the largest exporter of cement clinkers.
3. It is a part of the prestigious Aditya Birla Group that helps the brand.
4. It has an annual capacity of 60+ millions tones.
5. UltraTech accounts to about 30% of the total Indian Exports.
6. Most of the plants have ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification.
7. UltraTech Cement Limited has integrated plants, white cement plant and many
grinding units in India.

UltraTech Cements Weaknesses

The weaknesses of a brand are certain aspects of its business which are it can
improve to increase its position further. Certain weaknesses can be defined as
attributes which the company is lacking or in which the competitors are better.
Here are the weaknesses in the UltraTech Cements SWOT Analysis:
1. Although UltraTech provides various other construction products and services,
but the brand is associated with Cement only, so it has to work on positioning the
brand as a construction materials brand, which can be achieved by implementing
branding activities.
2. It is not operating /exporting in US market which is a huge market for Cement
industry.
3. Brand awareness of Ultratech is lesser as compared to global players.
UltraTech Cements Opportunities
The opportunities for any brand can include areas of improvement to increase its
business. A brand's opportunities can lie in geographic expansion, product
improvements, better communication etc. Following are the opportunities in
UltraTech Cements SWOT Analysis:
1. It should enter the US market by Mergers and acquisitions.
2. It should do worldwide branding activities that would help the brand grow as a
whole.

UltraTech Cements Threats

The threats for any business can be factors which can negatively impact its
business. Some factors like increased competitor activity, changing government
policies, alternate products or services etc. can be threats. The threats in the SWOT
Analysis of UltraTech Cements are as mentioned:
1. It faces strong competition from global players.
2. Mergers and acquisitions involves high risk, so it should be careful while
entering new market.

ULTRATECH CEMENTS COMPETITORS –

There are several brands in the market which are competing for the same set of
customers. Below are the top 4 competitors of UltraTech Cements:
1. Ambuja Cement
Ambuja Cements Ltd (Founded in 1993) is one of India’s leading cement
manufacturers, with a presence in 80 countries, and a focus on cement, aggregate
and concrete. It is a part of Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim Limited, a global
conglomerate with a 70-country presence

2. ACC Limited
ACC Limited (incorporated in 1936), a member of the LafargeHolcim Group, is
principally engaged in the business of manufacturing and selling of Cement and
Ready Mix Concrete. The Company has manufacturing facilities across India and
caters mainly to the domestic market.

3. Shree Cement
Shree Cement is engaged in the manufacturing and selling of cement and cement
related products and is one of the lowest cost producers in the country. It is
the 3rd largest cement producer in India with an installed capacity of 43.4 MTPA.

4. JK Cements
The Company is engaged in the manufacturing and selling of Cement and
Cement related products with over 4 decades of experience in cement
manufacturing. It is an affiliate of the multi-disciplinary industrial conglomerate
JK Organisation.

Conclusion –

The cement consumption in our country is increasing where we are the fastest
growing economy country after china. It identified its strengths and problem areas
through a variety of tools. While its raw material sourcing, financial and human
resource pools are sources of competitive advantage, Ultra Tech has to improve in
terms of fuel costs in order to beat ACC, Ambuja Cement, Jaypee to the top
position in the low margin industry. This can also be achieved by leveraging
futuristic trends like branded retailing, exports and new products like ready
concrete mix.

Ultra Tech company is really performing well and it really has vast scope to grow
and become the world's leading cement manufacturer company.

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