Let me tell you a short story : There was once a smart young guy who like all of us was a charming, intelligent and hard working fellow (please replace guy with gal – for the ladies reading this blog). Now this guy, like others knew that the stock market is the place to invest your money if you want to get a good return. So he would occasionally dabble in the stock market and would make a few bucks here and there, nothing serious though.

One day our friend was relaxing at home, watching CNBC, where a smart confident looking analyst recommended the stock of a hot upcoming company (lets call the company longshot). The analyst was extremely bullish and was going ga-ga over the prospects of the company. This was a hot company in a hot sector (hot – hot !!). The company had increased its profits by 5 times in the last 3 years and was growing rapidly. The promoters were confident that sky was the limit and they would be the next infosys of their industry.

The Indian construction industry is very large and is a growth driver to various sectors of the economy. It employs about 31 million persons – second only to agriculture in terms of employment. It consumes 40-50% of the National Plan outlay and contributes 20% of GDP

The cement industry is the most visible beneficiary of the housing and construction boom in the country. The importance of the housing sector in cement demand can be gauged from the fact that it consumes almost 70%-80% of the country’s cement.