# Building materials: Follow one offering through the chain Cement, concrete, bricks, tiles, glass and gypsum board made from quarried minerals Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/story/ #### Follow one offering through the chain **1** Example story · 6 steps · India ### A 50 kg bag of cement Follow limestone from a quarry through a kiln and a grinding mill to a dealer's stack of bags. 1 / 6 · Quarrying and raw materials #### Limestone blasted from a captive quarry **450 Mt**limestone mined in India, 2023-24 A bag of cement starts mostly as limestone, blasted and crushed in quarries that cement companies usually hold on long mining leases beside their kilns. India mined a record 450 million tonnes of limestone in 2023-24, according to the Ministry of Mines, and most of it goes into cement kilns.^[4](https://businessworld.in/article/indias-mining-sector-sees-growth-in-april-2024-following-record-production-levels-in-fy-2023-24-govt-521755) **Constraint** Leases: new limestone blocks are won at auction, and plants must sit near deposits because hauling rock far is uneconomic. [CaO Lime](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/)[Kao Kaolin & clays](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/)[Stn Crushed stone](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/crushed_stone/)[AN Ammonium nitrate](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/ammonium_nitrate/)[Machinery and equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/machinery/) 2 / 6 · Quarrying and raw materials #### Fly ash from coal power stations **27%**of power-plant ash used in cement, FY25 Much Indian cement is blended: grinding units mix clinker with fly ash from coal power stations or slag from steel mills, cutting the clinker, and the carbon, in each bag. Power plants reported about 353 Mt of ash in 2024-25 and found uses for 347 Mt, with Portland pozzolana cement taking about 96 Mt (Lok Sabha reply, 2026).^[5](https://eparlib.sansad.in/bitstream/123456789/3021630/1/AU1478_jHH3Ya.pdf) **Constraint** Fly ash depends on coal power: cement took about 27% of 2024-25 ash (calculated), so less coal generation means more slag or calcined clay. [Gyp Gypsum](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/gypsum/)[Tc Thermal coal](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/thermal_coal/)[St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)[Metal products](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/metal_products/)[Waste and recycling](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/waste_recycling/) 3 / 6 · Clinker and cement #### Kilns and mills for a building spree **192.3 Mt**UltraTech cement capacity, June 2025 Every new line needs a preheater tower, a rotary kiln, a clinker cooler and vertical roller mills from specialist engineering firms. Orders follow expansion: UltraTech alone had 192.3 Mtpa of grey cement capacity in June 2025 and expected to pass 200 Mtpa by March 2026, in an industry of about 670 Mtpa.^[6](https://www.crisil.com/mnt/winshare/Ratings/RatingList/RatingDocs/UltraTechCementLimited_August%2013_%202025_RR_375032.html)^,^[1](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-cement.pdf)^,^[2](https://indiancementreview.com/2025/09/16/adanis-strategic-emergence-in-indias-cement-landscape/) **Constraint** Capacity races demand: about 670 Mtpa of capacity in FY2025 (CMA) against roughly 470 Mt of output in 2025 (USGS estimate) leaves many kilns underused. [St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)[Cr Chromium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/chromium/)[Mot Electric motors and drives](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_motors/)[Machinery and equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/machinery/)[Electrical equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/electrical_equipment/) 4 / 6 · Clinker and cement #### Rock and coal become clinker **~8%**of global CO2 from cement In the kiln, limestone and clay are heated until they fuse into grey nodules of clinker. Burning coal or petcoke, and driving carbon dioxide out of the limestone itself, make cement production responsible for around 8% of global CO2 emissions. UltraTech recovers some kiln exhaust heat through 351 MW of waste-heat power units (2025).^[3](https://www.chathamhouse.org/2018/06/why-cement-major-contributor-climate-change)^,^[6](https://www.crisil.com/mnt/winshare/Ratings/RatingList/RatingDocs/UltraTechCementLimited_August%2013_%202025_RR_375032.html)^,^[7](https://www.icra.in/Rating/DownloadResearchSummaryReport?id=6798) **Constraint** Fuel and carbon: ICRA put coal at about $105 a tonne in February 2026, and carbon pricing is the largest long-run threat. [CaO Lime](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/)[Kao Kaolin & clays](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/clays/)[Fe Iron ore](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/iron_ore/)[Tc Thermal coal](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/thermal_coal/)[WHR Waste-heat power (steam Rankine)](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_whr_rankine/)[Transport and logistics](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/transport_logistics/)[Waste and recycling](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/waste_recycling/) 5 / 6 · Clinker and cement #### Ground, blended and bagged **470 Mt**India's cement output, 2025 Clinker is ground with gypsum and fly ash or slag, then packed into 50 kg bags at the plant or at grinding units near cities. India made about 470 Mt of cement in 2025, a distant second to China's 1.7 billion tonnes, and ICRA counted 397.7 Mt of sales in the first ten months of FY2026, up 9.3%.^[1](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-cement.pdf)^,^[7](https://www.icra.in/Rating/DownloadResearchSummaryReport?id=6798) **Constraint** Freight: cement is heavy and cheap per tonne, so rail and road haulage confine each plant to a market of a few hundred kilometres. [Cem Cement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cement/)[Gyp Gypsum](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/gypsum/)[PP Polypropylene](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/polypropylene/)[Paper and packaging](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/paper_packaging/)[Plastic and rubber products](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/plastic_rubber/)[Transport and logistics](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/transport_logistics/) 6 / 6 · Distribution to builders #### Stacked at the local dealer **₹340**average price per bag, FY2025 Trucks carry the bags to dealers who sell to masons, small builders and families building their own homes, often on credit. The average price was about ₹340 a bag in FY2025 and again in January 2026, which works out to roughly ₹6,800 a tonne (calculated) for one of the cheapest manufactured goods a household buys.^[7](https://www.icra.in/Rating/DownloadResearchSummaryReport?id=6798) **Constraint** Pricing: the average bag price fell 7% in FY2025 from the year before, showing how fast added capacity can erode margins. [Cem Cement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cement/)[St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)[Transport and logistics](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/transport_logistics/)[Finance: banking, insurance, markets](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/finance/) #### What the chain shows A bag of cement is mostly local rock and heat: India has the limestone and the demand, while imported fuel, fly ash supply and carbon cost are the pressure points. Sources 1. [Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Cement](https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-cement.pdf) US Geological Survey, 2026 2. [Adani's strategic emergence in India's cement landscape](https://indiancementreview.com/2025/09/16/adanis-strategic-emergence-in-indias-cement-landscape/) Indian Cement Review, 2025 3. [Why cement is a major contributor to climate change (explainer for Making Concrete Change)](https://www.chathamhouse.org/2018/06/why-cement-major-contributor-climate-change) Chatham House, 2018 4. [India's mining sector sees growth in April 2024 following record production levels in FY 2023-24 (Ministry of Mines data)](https://businessworld.in/article/indias-mining-sector-sees-growth-in-april-2024-following-record-production-levels-in-fy-2023-24-govt-521755) BusinessWorld, 2024 5. [Lok Sabha unstarred question no. 1478: fly ash generation and utilisation (answered 9 February 2026)](https://eparlib.sansad.in/bitstream/123456789/3021630/1/AU1478_jHH3Ya.pdf) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Lok Sabha, 2026 6. [Rating rationale: UltraTech Cement Limited](https://www.crisil.com/mnt/winshare/Ratings/RatingList/RatingDocs/UltraTechCementLimited_August%2013_%202025_RR_375032.html) Crisil Ratings, 2025 7. [Indian cement sector update, February 2026](https://www.icra.in/Rating/DownloadResearchSummaryReport?id=6798) ICRA, 2026 #### Sells directly into [Construction and infrastructure](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/construction/) ## Other sections - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/index.md) - [Where ₹100 goes](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/cost-mix/index.md) - [Price links with suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/price-links/index.md) - [Value chain](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/value-chain/index.md) - [Materials drawn on](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/materials/index.md) - [Chokepoints and risks](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/risks/index.md) - [Sources](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/sources/index.md)