Amid the prolonged nationwide lockdown and subsequent state and city specific restrictions disrupting construction activities, cement demand to de-grow by 22%-25% in FY2021, said rating agency Icra in a statement on Monday. “The demand is likely to recover only from the second half of FY2021, post monsoons.It should be noted that the rural segment has been relatively less impacted by the pandemic,” said Icra’s assistant vice president, Anupama Reddy. Rural incomes have been stable due to healthy rabi harvest, timely onset of monsoon and expectation of normal rainfall to support the kharif crop sowing. Reddy added, “We do not entirely rule out the possibility of a recovery in demand beyond what we are projecting at the moment”. As per estimates, housing, including the affordable housing segment, accounts for around 65%-70% of the cement demand followed by infrastructure segment at 20%-23%, and commercial and industrial capex at 10%