Economy & Market

Business success is measured by financial health

Published

14 years ago

June 30, 2012

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Government initiatives on infrastructure through direct investment or private participation continue to be the major thrust for a developing economy like India and the proposed investment of one trillion US dollars in the infrastructure area during the 12th Five Year Plan brings cheers to the cement industry, says Maurizio Caneppele, Managing Director, Zuari Cement.How would you describe the growth of Zuari Cement after you have taken over at the helm?
Zuari Cement has shown a steady progress in terms of market expansion and volume growth since the early 2000s. Italcementi Group entered the Indian market in January 2001, through a 50/50 joint-venture with KK Birla Group in Yerraguntla cement plant (2 mn tonnes per year), located in southern Andhra Pradesh. Zuari Cement then took over another plant, Sri Vishnu Sitapuram, situated in the north-eastern part of Andhra Pradesh. Finally, in May 2006, Italcementi Group went on to acquire full control of the company with a capacity of 3.5 million ton per year. In 2008, a 43 MW captive power plant was set up at Sitapuram.In 2010, the production capacity was further expanded at Yerraguntla plant by installing a second burning line of 2 million tons of clinker and adopting top-of-range technical solutions, with particular focus on energy performance. A one million ton grinding centre at Chennai was commissioned early in 2011. Zuari Cement has now reached a cement capacity of more than 6 million tons.Any business success is of course measured by financial health. Over the last decade, our turnover has grown at 16 per cent CAGR, while we have scored a profitability in line with the best competitors. So yes, we have witnessed quite an active growth scenario within the organization.What factors are driving growth at Zuari Cement? What would be growth drivers in future?We believe that growth relies on a few key driving factors such as demand, brand power, control on production costs and a definite commitment to sustainability. At Zuari Cement, we have effectively prioritized all these factors, as our consistent growth shows. While constant efforts are on to optimize the cost of production, our commitment towards sustainability is definitely in line with the Group’s strong focus worldwide.Going by the current trend and market scenarios, the Indian cement market is projected to grow by around 9 per cent CAGR over the next five years, primarily led by demand from infrastructure and housing segments.Our brands are relentlessly energized through the innovative marketing efforts of our team. Zuari Cement has been recognized earlier as a "Master Brand" and more recently confirmed as a "Power Brand".What is your share of the South Indian market and how do you plan to increase it?Currently, our market share in South India is around five per cent and we are targeting to keep this level in the medium term, given the high number of new plants already in the pipeline. Our traditional market comprises the five southern states, with a growing presence in Maharashtra and Orissa.We are planning to strengthen our industrial network via a greenfield plant in northern Karnataka, which will help us expand further into Maharashtra. We are also considering one or more grinding units to better serve our market.What needs to be done by the Government for development of the cement industry?Government initiatives on infrastructure through direct investment or private participation continue to be the major thrust for a developing economy like India. The proposed investment of one trillion US dollars in the infrastructure area, as detailed in the 12th Five Year Plan, brings cheers to the cement industry, giving a primary role to the cement companies to contribute to the growth curve.What are the innovations and product development at Zuari Cement? What new products are you planning to introduce?
Innovation is what we live by and innovation is what drives us. Our Group mission is "to create value in the building materials sector through the innovative and sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of our communities and clients". Among the most ambitious plans for 2013 are the production and marketing of two among Italcementi Group’s innovative products: TX Active Cement – a revolutionary ecological product, dust and CO2 "eater" – and Transparent Cement, which was presented with great success at the 2010 Shanghai Exposition. These products will reinforce the image of Zuari Cement and Italcementi as an innovative and technologically superior producer.What are the issue faced by cement companies? How do you tackle those issues?Cost control remains the main issue of concern, with increase in power, fuel, raw material cost as a great challenge. Further issues, like effective capacity utilization and talent retention, add up to the present day’s woes faced by many cement companies. We constantly identify opportunities and implement strategies to tackle these issues.Where do you see Zuari Cement in the next five years?Italcementi Group is strongly committed to the Indian market, where is strengthening its presence through organic and in-organic expansions. In 2011, we have reached an agreement with Zuari Industries for the acquisition of 74 per cent of Gulbarga Cement. The company is developing the project of a three million ton per year cement plant in North Karnataka, that – beside direct cement despatch – will supply clinker to a large grinding unit that we are going to erect at Solapur in Maharashtra. Therefore we feel we are setting important milestones for the continuous enhancement of a brand committed to a sustainable and effective growth.What is your opinion about markets for the cement industry in Tier II and Tier III cities?The tier I/metro cities still are top demand generators; however, the infrastructure push along with local spend at the tier II/III cities makes these markets more and more lucrative for future consumption and growth.How do you respond to needs of the industry to ‘go green’ and look for more sustainable sources of energy?The new line at Yerraguntla is equipped with the best available technology; new high-performance bag-filters have been installed also on the two other old kilns, to bring dust emissions well below the most stringent norms. We are investing large resources in projects that target growing percentage of alternate fuels, starting from biomass, while we continue to expand the utilization of available additives like fly-ash and slag, to preserve natural resources. Italcementi Group focuses on the continuous search for sustainable production processes and innovative solutions to meet the growing market demand for eco-friendly applications and products.

Economy & Market

TSR Will Define Which Cement Companies Win India’s Net-Zero Race

Published

3 days ago

April 27, 2026

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Jignesh Kundaria, Director and CEO, Fornnax Technology

India is simultaneously grappling with two crises: a mounting waste emergency and an urgent need to decarbonise its most carbon-intensive industries. The cement sector, the second-largest in the world and the backbone of the nation’s infrastructure ambitions, sits at the centre of both. It consumes enormous quantities of fossil fuel, and it has the technical capacity to consume something else entirely: the waste our cities cannot get rid of.

According to CPCB and NITI Aayog projections, India generates approximately 62.4 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with that figure expected to reach 165 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this waste is energy-rich and non-recyclable. At the same time, cement kilns operate at material temperatures of approximately 1,450 degrees Celsius, with gas temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees. This high-temperature environment is ideal for co-processing, ensuring the complete thermal destruction of organic compounds without generating toxic residues. The physics are in our favour. The infrastructure is not.

Pre-processing is not the support act for co-processing. It is the main event. Get the particle size wrong, get the moisture wrong, get the calorific value wrong and your kiln thermal stability will suffer the consequences.

The Regulatory Push Is Real

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 mandate that cement plants progressively replace solid fossil fuels with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), starting at a 5 per cent baseline and scaling to 15 per cent within six years. NITI Aayog’s 2026 Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation targets 20 to 25 per cent Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) by 2030. Beyond compliance, every tonne of coal replaced by RDF generates measurable carbon reductions which is monetisable under India’s emerging Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). TSR is no longer a sustainability metric. It is a financial lever.

Yet our own field assessments across multiple Indian cement plants reveal a sobering reality: the primary barrier to scaling AFR adoption is not waste availability. It is the fragmented and under-engineered pre-processing ecosystem that sits between the waste and the kiln.

Why Indian Waste Is a Different Engineering Problem

Indian municipal solid waste is not the material that imported shredding equipment was designed for. Our waste streams frequently exceed 40 per cent to 50 per cent moisture content, particularly during monsoon cycles, saturated with abrasive inerts including sand, glass, and stone. Plants relying on imported OEM equipment face months of downtime awaiting proprietary spare parts. Machines built for segregated, low-moisture waste fail quickly and disrupt the entire pre-processing operation in Indian conditions.

The two most common failures we observe are what I call the biting teeth problem and the chewing teeth problem. Plants relying solely on a primary shredder reduce bulk waste to large fractions, but the output remains too coarse for stable kiln combustion. Others attempt to use a secondary shredder as a standalone unit without a primary stage to pre-size the feed, leading to catastrophic mechanical failure. When both stages are present but mismatched in throughput capacity, the system becomes a bottleneck. Achieving the 40 to 70 tonnes per hour required for meaningful coal displacement demands a precisely coordinated two-stage process.

Engineering a Made-in-India Answer

At Fornnax, our response to these challenges is grounded in one principle: Indian waste demands Indian engineering. Our systems are built around feedstock homogeneity, the holy grail of kiln stability. Consistent particle size and predictable calorific value are the foundation of stable kiln combustion. Without them, no TSR target is achievable at scale.

Our SR-MAX2500 Dual Shaft Primary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive) processes raw, baled, or loosely mixed MSW, C&I waste, bulky waste, and plastics, reducing them to approximately 150 mm fractions at throughputs of up to 40 tonnes per hour. The R-MAX 3300 Single Shaft Secondary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive), introduced in 2025, takes that primary output and produces RDF fractions in the 30 to 80 mm range at up to 30 tonnes per hour, specifically optimised for consistent kiln feeding. We have also introduced electric drive configurations under the SR-100 HD series, with capacities between 5 and 40 tonnes per hour, already operational at a leading Indian waste-processing facility.

Looking ahead, Fornnax is expanding its portfolio with the upcoming SR-MAX3600 Hydraulic Drive primary shredder at up to 70 tonnes per hour and the R-MAX2100 Hydraulic drive secondary shredder at up to 20 tonnes per hour, designed specifically for the large-scale throughput that higher TSR ambitions require.

The Investment Case Is Now

The 2070 Net-Zero target is not a distant goal for India’s cement sector. It starts today, with decisions being made on the plant floor.

The SWM Rules 2026 are already in effect, requiring cement plants to replace coal with RDF. Carbon credit markets are opening up, and coal prices are not going to get cheaper. Every tonne of coal a cement plant replaces with waste-derived fuel saves money on one side and generates carbon credit revenue on the other. Pre-processing infrastructure is no longer just a compliance requirement. It is a business investment with a measurable return.

The good news is that nothing is missing. The technology works. The waste is available in every Indian city. The government has provided the policy direction. The only thing standing between where the industry is today and where it needs to be is the commitment to build the right infrastructure.

The cement companies that move now will not just meet the regulations. They will be ahead of every competitor that waits.

About The Author

Jignesh Kundaria is the Director and CEO of Fornnax Technology. Over an experience spanning more than two decades in the recycling industry, he has established himself as one of India’s foremost voices on waste-to-fuel technology and alternative fuel infrastructure.

Concrete

WCA Welcomes SiloConnect as associate corporate member

Published

3 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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The World Cement Association (WCA) has announced SiloConnect as its newest associate corporate member, expanding its network of technology providers supporting digitalisation in the cement industry. SiloConnect offers smart sensor technology that provides real-time visibility of cement inventory levels at customer silos, enabling producers to monitor stock remotely and plan deliveries more efficiently. The solution helps companies move from reactive to proactive logistics, improving delivery planning, operational efficiency and safety by reducing manual inspections. The technology is already used by major cement producers such as Holcim, Cemex and Heidelberg Materials and is deployed across more than 30 countries worldwide.

Concrete

TotalEnergies and Holcim Launch Floating Solar Plant in Belgium

Published

3 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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TotalEnergies and Holcim have commissioned a floating solar power plant in Obourg, Belgium, built on a rehabilitated former chalk quarry that has been converted into a lake. The project has a generation capacity of 31 MW and produces around 30 GWh of renewable electricity annually, which will be used to power Holcim’s nearby industrial operations. The project is currently the largest floating solar installation in Europe dedicated entirely to industrial self-consumption. To ensure minimal impact on the surrounding landscape, more than 700 metres of horizontal directional drilling were used to connect the solar installation to the electrical substation. The project reflects ongoing collaboration between the two companies to support industrial decarbonisation through renewable energy solutions and innovative infrastructure development.