July 17, 2023, New Delhi, India: The Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA), the apex body of India’s large cement manufacturers, unanimously elected Mr Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director of Shree Cement Limited, as the President of CMA and Mr Parth Jindal, Managing Director of JSW Cement Limited as the Vice President of CMA at its Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on July 14, 2023. Mr Akhoury takes over from Mr K C Jhanwar, Managing Director of UltraTech Cement Limited. Members unanimously endorsed the election of President and Vice President of CMA expressing full confidence in the newly elected leadership team.

Mr Neeraj Akhoury, Managing Director of Shree Cement Limited, brings with him over 30 years of rich experience in the steel and cement industries. He has worked in various leadership roles in India and other emerging markets.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Neeraj Akhoury, President of the Cement Manufacturers’ Association said, “I express my sincere thanks to all the CMA Members for reposing their confidence in me. I assure my firm commitment towards continuing to build a substantive agenda of dialogue with the Government of India. As a future direction, the Indian Cement Industry would like to reiterate its commitment to being India’s partner in nation building for creating business value chains, supporting infrastructure growth and a sustainability agenda, with an emphasis on decarbonisation, aligned to India’s priorities and working in close collaboration with policy planners, ministries and stakeholders”.

Mr Akhoury further added, “I would like to express my deep appreciation of the Government of India for constantly engaging with our Industry during the critical time of COVID and taking forward productive dialogue with the Cement Industry through CMA. While the Indian Cement Industry is robust, CMA reaffirms its commitment to the nation and will make all efforts to further improve the image and reputation of the Indian Cement industry.”

Mr Parth Jindal is the Managing Director of JSW Cement At CMA, Mr Parth Jindal is the youngest elected Vice President in the Association’s almost 60 year history and is expected to bring in new energy and perspective to address key challenges of the Indian cement industry. He will also infuse new ideas to support the decarbonisation agenda and digital transformation of the Indian cement sector.

Commenting on his appointment as the new Vice President of CMA, Mr Parth Jindal said, “I thank the CMA Members for electing me as the Vice President of CMA. India’s cement sector plays a critical role in the growth and economic development of our nation. I reiterate CMA’s commitment on working closely with the Indian Government in being a significant partner in pursuing the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat. This places a great responsibility on all of us to collectively follow various strategies to reduce carbon emissions across our business operations. I look forward to working with Neeraj in furthering CMA’s decarbonisation agenda as we continue to build a pipeline of strategically relevant solutions in this direction. I have full confidence in the Indian Cement Industry’s practices associated with circular economy, WHRS, alternative fuels etc. Moreover, as India takes a generational leap in becoming a digitally connected economy, it becomes important for us to adapt to the new digital way of doing business and connecting with all our stakeholders.”

About CMA

Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA) is the apex body of large cement plants in India, representing almost~ 80% of the total installed cement capacity in India. CMA endeavours to create an enabling business environment for the Cement Industry and is the Indian Cement Industry’s consolidated voice on policy matters and issues that impact the Industry. CMA has dedicated Committees with functional heads from across Member Companies.