Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni on Friday attended the board meeting of Chennai-based cement manufacturing company India Cements. The presence of one of the world's finest cricket captains left the executives of the company awestruck. Dhoni, who is the captain of the city-based IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, holds the position of vice-president marketing.
The executives of the company informed the media that this is the first time Dhoni has participated in a board meeting. The meeting was held to review the financial performance of the company for the quarter and half year period ending September 30. The 2011 ODI World Cup winner captain took a keen interest on the company's outlook and expansion plans for the fiscal year 2018-19.
During the earnings presentation, Dhoni said: "I am bullish on India Cements' growth. We at India Cements will reach 100% capacity utilisation levels next year on the back of rising demand."
It is to be noted that the cement industry is reeling under pressure in south India due to oversupply and sluggish demand. The numbers revealed that for September quarter company operated its plants at 80% of rated capacity.
The former captain said that going forward he would spend more time with the company he was playing only one format which is ODI of the three formats of international cricket for the country.
The future outlook for the cement industry remains positive in fact the cement demand went up by around 14% this financial year. India Cements has planned for new capacity expansion for a cement factory with annual capacity of 2.4 million tonnes (mt) for a cement factory for a cement factory with annual capacity of 2.4 million tonnes (mt) in Madhya Pradesh with an annual capacity of 2.4 million tonnes (mt) in Madhya Pradesh.
"The budget for this is Rs 900-1,000 crore, and we hope to fund it internally." He further went to add that "Demand will outstrip supply soon," said India Cements MD N Srinivasan.
