Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited (DCBL) is one of the first cement companies in India to be awarded the ISO 9000 certification. A leader in cement manufacturing since 1939, DCBL is a multi-spectrum cement player with double-digit market share and a pioneer in super-speciality cements used in oil wells, railway sleepers and air strips. Read on …
Dalmia Cement was started as a venture towards building a self-reliant India. Dalmia Cement was started in 1939, one of India’s first cement plants with an installed capacity of 250 tonne per day (tpd). Today, the plant has grown manifolds in terms of capacity. DCBL is also one of the leaders in the production of high strength speciality cement required for air strips and for the manufacture of concrete railway sleepers.
Genesis Founded in 1935 by Jaidayal Dalmia, the group was the third largest industrial group in the 1940s after the Tatas and the undivided Birlas. Since inception, DCBL has grown phenomenally and currently it holds a total cement capacity of 14.3 mtpa. The Group is also involved in other businesses including sugar, ethanol, energy, travel agency, magnesite, refractory and electronics. However, cement and sugar are its core products with over 90 per cent share in the group’s total income. DCBL has not only pioneered the cement manufacturing in the country, but it has also sustained the path to growth for seven long decades through innovations and adoption of new technologies.
Planting growth
The company originally had four cement plants in pre-independence years, two of which were affected by the partition. The remaining two plants in India were operated as Dalmia Cement in Tamil Nadu and OCL India Limited in Orissa.Today, the company has three cement plants, located in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh with a combined capacity of 9 mtpa. It also has a 45.4 per cent strategic investment in OCL India, formerly Orissa Cements Limited, which has a capacity of 5.3 mtpa.
The year 2009 was a landmark year for Dalmia Cement. During this year, the company increased the number of cement plants from one to three and the capacity from 4 mtpa to 9 mtpa by adding two green-field plants. At present, it has three cement plants, two in Tamil Nadu at Dalmiapuram and Ariyalur, and one in Andhra Pradesh at Kadapa. The Dalmiapuram plant, 40 km from Trichy, was the company’s first cement plant set up in Tamil Nadu. In 1951, the plant had two kilns, one of 250 tpd of semi-dry single pass based process and the other of 508 tpd, based on wet-dry process. Since then, the plant has been completely modernised, and by the year 2007, its capacity increased to 4 mtpa, making it the largest cement plant in Tamil Nadu. With Kadapa plant in Andhra Pradesh, the company increased its footprint in south India. The company acquired the Hyderabad-based Eswar Cements Pvt Ltd and in April 2007, it was merged with Dalmia Cement.
Commissioned in March 2009, the Kadapa plant is equipped with the latest technology and equipment like Robolab, which collects samples at each stage of manufacturing and calibrates the equipment to attain the desired output. The plant’s technological highlights include – variable voltage frequency drives (VVFDs) and dust control system, among others. The plant with a capacity of 2.5 mtpa, has set a new benchmark in emission norms and energy efficiency.
Ariyalur plant, the company’s second in Tamil Nadu and third cement plant in all, is strategically located at Thamaraikulam, 40 km from the Dalmiapuram plant. Located amidst a limestone rich belt, it was commissioned during the year 2009 with a capacity of 2.5 mtpa. This plant is also equipped with advanced technologies such as Robolab, VVFD and dust control system.
Achievements galore
In 1986, the company was the first to produce oil well cement (OWC) in India to API specification. In 1991, recognising DCBL as centre of excellence for transfer of technology, World Bank Danida team sponsored a regional training centre at DCBL, Dalmiapuram to cater the needs of south Indian cement industries. In the year 1993, the company was certified with ISO 9002, the first to receive in south India and second in India. In 2004, the company obtained ISO 14001 certification from BIS. DCBL is also the recipient of various awards. In 2003, the company was chosen by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a model plant for energy efficiency. In 2008, the company received National Award for Excellence in Energy Management 2007 conferred by Cll – Godrej GBC. Earlier, in 1999, the company was awarded with the National Award for Energy Efficiency in Indian Cement Industry by National Council for Cement and Building Materials. In 2001, the company was the recipient of three national energy conservation awards. The first award was the National Energy Conservation Award, by Bureau of Energy Efficiency – Ministry of Power, New Delhi, and the second award National Award for Energy Efficiency in Indian Cement Industry the presented by the National Council for Cement and Building Materials. The third one was the National Award for Excellence in Energy Management by Cll In the same year, the company was placed first in energy conservation in the cement sector. In 2002, the company received National Energy Conservation Award, National Award for Excellence in Energy Management and National Award for Energy
Efficiency in Indian Cement Industry. Cll awarded the company with National Energy Management Award in 2003-04 and 2004-05. In 2003-04, the company also received Energy Efficiency Award from the National Council for Cement and Building Materials. In 2008-09, the company received National Award for Energy Efficiency & Environmental Excellence from the National Council for Cement and Building Materials. In 2003, the company also received Leadership & Excellence Award in Safety, Health & Environment from Cll.
Binding India
DCBL’s cements can be broadly categorised into cement for building houses and cement for infrastructure. In housing category, the company offers Superoof, Vajram and Coastal cement. The Superoof is specially designed to provide extra protection and strength, compared to ordinary cements. It is manufactured with CVRM technology. The coastal cement is designed for use in the corrosive and saline conditions found along Indian coasts. It has low hydration and high resistance to alkali-silica reactions, which makes it ideal for large section concrete applications in reservoirs, dams, canal piers, cooling towers etc. For infrastructure, DCBL offers airstrip cement, oil well cement and railway sleeper cement. The airstrip cement is used extensively in cementing airstrips due to its high impact load bearing capacity. The oil well cement is used for cementing the walls of on-shore and off-shore oil wells. The railway sleeper cement is developed based on special specifications and requirements evolved by the Railways. It has been used extensively to replace wooden railway sleepers for high-speed trains.
Milestones & landmarks
In 1939, the company had an installed capacity of 250 tpd kiln to manufacture cement by semi-dry process. The machinery was supplied by Polysius, Germany. In 1949, the company installed a 500 tpd wet process kiln supplied by FLS Smidth, Denmark. In 1959, expansion was undertaken with the installation of another 200 tpd wet process Folax. In 1981, the company installed raw meal vertical roller mill. In 1982, a 200-tonne vertical shaft, first of its kind in India, was installed using fuel slurry process. In 1984, the company introduced oil well cement and railway sleeper cement. In 1986, packaging was improved and cement was dispatched in poly bags. In 1987, lignite was used as fuel to reduce variable costs and in the same year, 1,500-tpd dry process kiln was installed. In 1997, cement vertical roller mill was installed and in 2002 KHD kiln was upgraded to 3,000 tpd.
R & D activities
The R & D activities of the organisation are carried out by an independent research centre set up at Salem under Dalmia Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, a SIRO, approved by DISIR, GoI. Here, the main focus is on product development particularly special cements, energy efficiency (both power and fuel), optimisation of raw material resources, increasing inputs of blending component, particularly flyash in PPC, and improving quality of all the products made by the company to international level.
Going green
The company has taken significant step to reduce CO2 emission. DCBL has installed power control devices to run larger machines so that, part of the electrical energy consumed by the machines can be recovered, thereby reducing the consumption of electricity. The company has also installed high-efficiency separator to increase the cement grinding capacity that will result in lower consumption of electrical energy. Under afforestation programme, the company has planted 35,000 trees. Under the CSR initiatives, DCBL has taken a number of initiatives like providing loans to villagers to buy livestock, impart necessary education for better health and productivity of livestock and form milk committees to secure better realisations through sales. Similarly, a very comprehensive programme for raising agricultural productivity through extensive farmer training, establishing demo plots and increasing water availability through farm ponds are being implemented under the
CSR programmes.
Future perfect
The company is moving swiftly towards achieving new milestones, setting up new green-field plants and innovating new ways to be in the forefront of the booming cement industry. With increasing investment in Infrastructure and housing, the company is poised for a giant leap.