Since FY23 they have added ₹28,000 crore to consolidated net sales, against industry-wide revenue growth of about ₹27,800 crore.
The sector still looks competitive, with 16 independent producers, but the gap between the top two and the rest is widening. Their combined revenue share rose to 51.2 per cent in FY26, from 44.8 per cent in FY23, 42.5 per cent in FY21 and 38.7 per cent in FY16. Cement becomes the fifth major Indian industry —after telecoms, airlines, steel and paints — in which the top two players hold at least half the market.
Second-tier producers, including Shree Cement, Dalmia Bharat, J K Cements and Ramco Cements, grew revenues over the period. But that growth merely offset the disappearance of independent companies absorbed by the big two. The number of independent producers has fallen to 16 as of March 2026, from 23 five years earlier and 32 in March 2016.
India’s largest cement maker has long been the industry’s chief consolidator, and it is still growing faster than the sector. Its revenue share reached a record 34.4 per cent at the end of March (FY26), up from 26.6 per cent in FY22 and 20 per cent in March 2016.
The company was created when the Aditya Birla group bought Larsen & Toubro’s cement division in 2004. It merged that business with the cement arm of Grasim Industries, the group’s parent company, in 2010. It later acquired most of the Jaypee group’s cement assets in three stages, along with Binani Cement, Century Textiles and Industries (now Aditya Birla Real Estate), Kesoram Industries and, most recently, India Cements.
These have let UltraTech outpace the industry. Over five years, its consolidated net sales grew at a compound annual rate of 14.5 per cent, against 9 per cent for the industry as a whole, rising to ₹83,127 crore in FY26, from ₹42,286 crore in FY21 and ₹22,814 crore in FY16.
Ambuja’s net sales grew more slowly, at 10.65 per cent a year. Excluding the top two, the rate was a mere 5.45 per cent.
G Chokkalingam, founder & head of research, Equinomics Research, says scale brings cost efficiencies that allow bigger players to grow faster. “Consolidation has been good for the industry in terms of growth and earnings, and it shows in the share price performance of top players,” he says.
UltraTech now accounts for almost half of the combined market capitalisation of listed cement makers, up from about 40 per cent five years ago, which lets it fund large acquisitions with ease. It ended FY26 valued at ₹3.16 trillion, against ₹6.43 trillion for the sector. These figures exclude listed subsidiaries such as ACC, India Cements and Orient Cement.
Ambuja entered the dealmaking game in 2024, after the Adani takeover, buying Penna Cement, Sanghi Industries, Orient Cement and Jaypee Cement. It also plans to merge ACC into itself.
These deals have lifted its revenue share to 16.8 per cent in FY26, from 16.1 per cent in FY24, a near two-decade low. Along with ACC, it had lost ground steadily after Holcim’s 2004 entry, with its share falling from 23.3 per cent in FY08.
Ambuja’s consolidated net sales rose 9 per cent over the past two years, against 4.4 per cent for the industry, reaching ₹40,656 crore in FY26 from ₹37,288 crore in FY24 and ₹24,516 crore in FY21.
Its shares, however, have halved from nearly ₹690 in July 2024, as high operating costs have hit recent earnings. Its market value fell to ₹99,095 crore at the end of March 2026 and to about ₹89,500 crore now.
The question now is how promoters of smaller independents respond, as many struggle to grow. Over three years, 11 of the 16 have seen revenues fall or grow only in low single digits, and have lost market share.
