JK Cement Ltd (JKCL) is one of India’s leading manufacturers of grey cement, the No. 1 manufacturer of wall putty in the world and the third largest white cement manufacturer in the world. Over four decades, the company has partnered India's infrastructure needs on the strength of its product excellence, customer orientation and technology leadership. The company has an installed grey cement capacity of 14.7 mtpa to date. It has a total white cement capacity of 1.20 mtpa and wall putty capacity of 1.2 mtpa. JK White Cement is sold across 43 countries and the company has a strong international presence with two subsidies: JK Cement Works Fujairah FZC and JK White Cement (Africa) Ltd. Madhavkrishna Singhania, Deputy Managing Director & CEO, JK Cement, shares more on the company, its legacy, plans and prospects…. What is a key parameter that has contributed to you being among the most admired brands in construction? Believing in sustainable and profitable growth and striving to achieve it. How did you fare against the backdrop of the pandemic? We have worked consistently to strengthen the fundamentals of our business with a special focus on distribution, supply chain, and after-sales support. The past year was salvaged on the back of this foundation. We did face setbacks in Q1 in both our grey and white cement businesses. But we witnessed faster recovery in rural areas. Hence, we rolled out an aggressive rural drive to cover white spaces and untapped markets. Our differentiated marketing and brand communication, technical services and improved serviceability also gave us a competitive edge. We came up with innovative solutions to achieve sustainable savings. We undertook cost-reduction and innovation to bring efficiency in operations. We continue to be the market leaders in white cement and wall putty. Further, we have seen encouraging growth in our premium value-added product lines. What do your customers value most about you? We have always responded to changing market dynamics and customer expectations. We have continued to reinvent and change. Being proactive, understanding customer needs and responding with innovative solutions have helped us strengthen our foundation of trust. Are your products priced higher than your competitors? As the preferred brand in the market for grey cement, we have competitive price positioning. However, increasing our brand pull and getting good value for products is a continuous endeavour. In white cement, our products command a premium based on the strength of customer-centricity and technology leadership. Tell us about your plans for FY21-22 that will enhance your ‘admiration quotient’. FY 20-21 has been a year of unlearning, learning and relearning. We have emerged wiser and stronger. We expect demand in the coming year to be bullish and with our recent investments in capacity augmentation, we are poised to meet it head on. We believe in upgrading ourselves to be future-ready.