The cement industry has been instrumental in building nation’s infrastructure and housing development. India’s cement industry today is one of the most effective industries in the world in terms of thermal and process efficiencies. Yet the contributions made by the industry have remained unrecognised. The sector does not have the priority sector status such as that enjoyed by the food and fertiliser sector.
The industry, apparently has lacked planned strategy for growth. A vison to chalk the growth plan was needed. To fulfill this need CII in association with its knowledge partner A T Kearney released a report at a CII Exclusive Session on "Cement Vision 2025: Scaling New Heights" on 30 April 2014 at Mumbai.
The report has recommendations for government support and strategic industry decisions to take the industry to the next level.
Expert panel discussed the state of the industry and made few suggestions to help the sector. India has one of the lowest per capita consumption of cement in the world, even when compared to other economies at similar prosperity levels (GDP per capita). Unlike developed markets and large developing markets such as China, India has some distance to go to create sufficient infrastructure, overcome a large housing deficit, and jump-start its slow pace of urbanisation. In India retail sales of cement for housing sector account for 60 to 65 percent of cement demand, with bag cement comprising the bulk of sales. As a result, penetration of ready-mix concrete is limited and accounts for less than 10 percent of total cement demand. The discussions conducted at the meet highlighted the need to look at newer applications, such as canal lining, or white topping of tar roads, to boost the cement demand.
Arun Unni, Principal, AT Kearney shared some of the stats on cement industry that were gathered in process of making the report. This was followed with talks and panel discussion that focused on the challenges and solutions for the cement sector.
Madhav Singhania, Special Executive, JK Cements spoke about the immense potential in energy saving and the use of alternative fuels. He stressed on the use of WHR systems stating that "of the 700 Kcal consumed during the clinkerisation process, only 500Kcal is required for the reaction, the remaining 300 Kcal goes to waste." Talking about the scope for alternative fuels he said that of the total fuel consumed by the cement industry, only 2 per cent comes from alternative sources.
Amitabh Kant, Secretary Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion,Government of India, was the Chief Guest at the occasion. He urged the cement industry to look at the larger picture understanding the need for extensive urbanisation. "Unless we build new cities, our existing cities will turn into slums. Some have already become slums," he said.
Visit www.cii.in to download the cement vision 2025 report.