Aim to maintain margins at 16%; demand improving in UP: HeidelbergCement

However, going forward the rise in fuel and pet coke prices will lead to some pressure but they will try to manage the fuel and power cost in a better manner, he said.

He is confident that they will try to keep the margins around 16 percent and in fact improve them on back of increased efficiencies within the plant. Therefore, as volumes go up, the fixed costs may come down.

Talking about demand, Cooper said there was major improvement in Central India compared to last year. Even in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the demand is improving. Demand is more from the rural housing sector, he added.

For them the EBITDA/tonne is Rs 680/tonne, which would improve going ahead, said Cooper.

The company has seen price increases in January and in February to they have gone up although not consistently but are inching up. So, pricing power will continue, said Cooper.

The industry capacity utilisation currently is around 73-74 percent and for the company, it has been 88 percent. For the next 12-18 months the company can manage an added capacity utilisation of 5-7 percent, said Cooper.

With regards to debt, he said currently the net debt stands at Rs 500 crore and in the next fiscal year they would pay off Rs 150 crore, so it would be around Rs 350 crore next fiscal.