The GST rationalisation will bring down the prices of cement by Rs 30-35 per 50 kg bag and lower the cost of construction, a report from India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said. Last week, the GST Council decided to overhaul the current GST regime into a two-slab structure -- 5 per cent and 18 per cent. From September 22, cement will be taxed at 18 per cent, instead of 28 per cent now. The report said the revamp is a "structural positive" for the cement sector and could support demand in the affordable segment, which has been tepid in recent times. Ind-Ra believes companies will likely largely pass on this benefit by reducing selling prices which will help lower construction costs for infrastructure and housing projects. "With the rate cut likely to be passed on due to high competition, cement prices for consumers would soften while net realisations for cement companies may remain range bound. The price reduction for consumers could also lead to some upgrading to higher-value brands, benefiting tier 1 players. Over the capacity utilisation, Ind-Ra said the cement industry witnessed significant capacity additions in 1QFY26, with around 17 million tonne commissioned out of the 75 MT planned for the full year. Recent acquisitions and pending ramp-ups of underutilised assets by large players pushed industry-wide capacity utilisation to nearly 72 per cent, a marginal yoy decline,
 

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