As compared to previous year, there was about 12-15 per cent growth in demand of cement in the eastern region, but the base has been very low which offsetted the accrued benefits to the manufacturers of the region, said Somnath Basu, marketing manager, eastern zone, of Birla Corporation.

The future outlook of the industry appears not so bright as no major project is coming up in the entire region which could consume tonnes and tonnes of cement, he said. Except Haldia Petrochemical project and Bakreshwar Power project, both of them already on the verge of completion, no major project is in the offing at present, he added. Echoing similar sentiments, PL Mehta of Gujarat Ambuja Eastern Limited, which recently came out of red after a long period of continuous losses, said thoughexact reason for surge in demand could not be defined so far, but it is estimated that fall in prices might be one of the reasons.

Both of them, however, agreed that after a slump in the second quarter, the demand is likely to increase by around 15 per cent in the third quarter and by another 10 per cent in the fourth quarter. Basu also regretted that the growth registered in demand during the first quarter in the eastern region was much lower than what was recorded in other regions of the country, specially the northern and western regions which had witnessed a growth of 25 and 30 per cent respectively.

The all India figure which stood at around 23 per cent during the quarter was also significantly higher than the eastern region, he added.

Industry sources said the impact of growth in demand in the region which has nine important cement manufacturing units could not be ascertained separately as three of the four plants in Bihar -- Sindri, Chaibasa and Kalyanpur -- were a part of the bigger ACC, whileone in Orissa was a part of another major manufacturer, Larsen and Toubro. They, however, said units in the region were at a disadvantageous position as about 60 per cent of the demand of the region is met through the produce of Bilaspur cluster from the plants located in Madhya Pradesh.

Analyst claimed that Orissa Cement was reported to have registered impressive performance, while the performance report of another unit in the state under Larsen and Toubro could not be found along with IDCOL which is managed by the Orissa government.

In West Bengal, Gujarat Ambuja Eastern Limited had benefitted according to the accounts released recently by the company, while Birla Corporation's Durgapur Cement performance reportedly was also not bad.