V P Sharma, COO, Dalmia Bharat Group

As the Chief Operating Officer for the cement business of Dalmia Bharat Group, what measures have you implemented to increase productivity and plant efficiency?In Dalmia cement, I have been instrumental in stabilising the operations of our new plants at Ariyalur and Kadappa of 2.5 million tonnes capacity. Some of the operational improvement measures are improved run factor, emphasis on condition monitoring and preventive maintenance, focus on quality of products, systems and procedures, proactive energy management in thermal as well electrical, develop individual skills and team culture and bring out the culture of safe working and environmentHow many plants Dalmia Cement is operating presently? What are the technological advancements you have recently observed in the cement business?
We are having three cement plants in South India with the total cement capacity of 9 million tonnes. Some of the major technological advancements in the cement industry are robotic quality controller, energy saving equipment like VFD for LT, HT equipments, higher efficiency, low pressure pre-heater cyclones and CCTV at all operating equipments.What environmental protection measures have been adopted to reduce air and water pollution from your cement plants? What are the ‘green’ initiatives taken by Dalmia in the cement production process?As a company, we are very much committed for the upcoming of the environment. All our plants are of state of the art technologies, which operate at the benchmarking parameters. We have continuous air ambient monitoring station in all of our plants and the periodical reports are getting submitted to the statutory bodies. Some of the major systems in place to control air pollution are bag house for raw mill, kiln, cement mills and stacks, localised cyclone dust collector at all transfer points, environment-friendly covered storage systems for all bulk materials, we have robust water management system in place. To conserve the precious water, we have initiated the following activities at our plants, captive power plant rejected water is being used for cement manufacturing process by which we are able to recycle significant quantity of water in the system, roof water harvesting system installed in all the buildings to conserve water, sewage treatment system at all our locations to recycle the water which is getting used for plantation purposes and mine pit water harvesting for plant operations. Some of the other major green initiatives undertaken by the company are extensive program taken on alternate fuel like MSW, hazardous and non hazardous material to replace fossil fuels, manufacturing blended cement by using fly ash.To support the global action on climate change and exemplifying our commitment to sustainable development; DCBL filed membership application to cement sustainability initiative (CSI). DCBL is the third Indian cement company to enroll for this prestigious membership.Dalmia Cement claims to be pioneer in super speciality cement manufacturing. What role does the super speciality cement play in infrastructure development?Dalmia Cement has played a major role in infrastructure development over the years in terms of manufacturing special cement for special applications like oil wells, airports, dams, bridges, railway sleepers, etc.Oil well Cement (OWC): We are one of the largest producers of Oil well cement and supplies to the major oil companies in India. It is used for cementing the walls of ‘on-shore’ and ‘off-shore’ oil wells. Also, Dalmia Cement was the first in India to get API Class ‘G’ certification (1984) for OWC.Railway Sleeper cement: This special cement has been produced as per the specifications of Indian railways for manufacturing concrete sleeper and this is a replacement for the wooden railway sleepers for Hi-Speed trains.Airstrip cement: The Company developed this special cement which helps in designing high impact and abrasion resistant concrete necessary for modern air strips.Sulphur resistant cement: This cement is being used in projects that are exposed to high amount of sulphates. This cement also finds application in constructions that are in direct contact with clay soil, which contains a large amount of sulphate salt, such as foundations and pillars.What kind of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities your company has undertaken?Dalmia Bharat Group Foundation: Dalmia Bharat Group Foundation (DBGF) is a registered not-for-profit organization set up under the Income Tax Act 1961. It is promoted by Dalmia Bharat Group comprising Dalmia Bharat Enterprises Ltd. (DBEL) and Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries Ltd. (DBSIL).Dalmia Higher Secondary School (DHSS) at Lalgudi was set up in 1950 to educate the children from the local population as well as Dalmia Bharat employees. DHSS is the first school to be accredited with five -star status by the Bharathidasan University. About 1,850 students benefit from good standard of education. . The school has consistently delivered results at an average of 99% in 10th and 96% results in 12th standards respectively for the past five years.Vivekananda Matriculation School (VMS), with a strength of 540 students, provides quality education to the children of company employees and local population with a nominal fee since 1989.123 people have been provided with basic education in computers in order to bridge the digital divide. We have supported renovation in two schools benefitting approximately 1000 children.Ramakrishna Dalmia Industrial Training Institute, set up in 1992, teaches basic technical skills to meet the requirements of the industry and increase employment opportunities for the rural youth. At least 60 students are given vocational training.Dalmia Institute of Construction established in 2008, at Thillainagar in Trichy, trains students in all essential civil construction methods and cement applications.We have scheduled health camps covering free medicines, seasonal and opportunistic diseases, reaching more than 1600 people, out of which more than 50% were of 50 years or above in age.The in-house hospital catered to more than 5000 people from 20 villages around our plants, providing full range of services in diagnosis, investigations and treatments. Nearly 100% children from our 6 target villages are immunized regularly, while 283 mothers are supported for anti natal and post natal care.