If time flew back to when the first stone of Gotan Plant was laid, you would be facing a world, where White Cement, as a concept itself, was unheard of and attracted prejudice by being classified as a luxury product.

Today, it's a different story. White Cement is a preferred accessory in construction finishes, and is widely recognised as a versatile building material, timeless in its appeal and strength. It is heartening to see the world of difference that 25 years can make to mindset. For me personally, the white cement project was one of my most ambitious steps, which took despite opposition from some members of the Board of Directors of the Company at that time.

J.K. White Cement is a classic instance of letting a professional management run the show, long before it became a fashionable norm in Indian industry. The funds came from internal accruals, the technical collaborators, FLSmidth, which were from Denmark and our on-ground team that comprised senior and middle-level engineers from our other businesses.

At Gotan we have debunked the myth that installed capacity is the last word in productivity. We ordered a 50,000 TPA plant from FLSmidth. Today, we have a 400,000 TPA facility. We are now preparing for the next leg of our journey in creating a sustainable building materials business that is de-commoditised and where continuous value addition, forward integration and innovation can prove to be the game-changers.

Today, even as we celebrate over a quarter century of meaningful relationships with our customers, channel partners, stakeholders and employees, we look forward to the future with a clear vision for sustained leadership in quality, innovation, design solutions and consequently, customer delight.

Yadupati Singhania
Managing Director