Roads are the lifelines of a nation and a good network of highways is absolutely essential for the development of trade, commerce and other activities that characterise a vibrant and forward-looking nation. John F Kennedy once said, ?The US did not build concrete roads because it was a great country, but it is a great country because of the concrete roads it had built.? It is high time that we too realise the value of concrete roads and do away with bitumen pavements wherever possible.
The government of India has been stretching its budget allocations year after year to upgrade Indian roads to meet the global standards. However, despite all such efforts our roads are still in a very pathetic condition mainly due to the preference given to the conventional bitumen roads. These roads deteriorate faster requiring heavy expenditure on maintenance. Bitumen roads exhaust a major chunk of the annual road funds for their frequent maintenance leaving behind very small amount to build new roads and extend the network.
Building concrete roads If we are to make our infrastructure durable and at par with international standards, it is high time for us to shift our construction practices from bitumen roads to techno-economically superior cement concrete roads. Cement roads have a definite edge over bitumen roads in all respects, viz., construction cost, maintenance, service life, etc. The construction of cement roads has become all the more necessary looking at the scarce and erratic availability of bitumen the world over, as also its ever-rising price. India is fully dependent on imported bitumen. On the other hand, cement, an indigenous product, is available in plenty on demand, across the country and its availability is assured for many years to come. The present cement production capacity of the nation is 360 MLT, which will be 700 MLT by 2022 and will comfortably meet all domestic cement demand. The quality and technology of Indian cement is already of international standards.
The IT and Telecommunication sectors in the country saw a revolutionary change after the government took bold policy decisions and adopted modern technologies in these sectors. Indian road infrastructure too can benefit immensely once we adopt and implement cement concrete technology in the roads sector on a larger scale as has been done in many countries.
It is a happy augury that the Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, has not only realised and acknowledged this, but has also taken various positive initiatives for adopting techno-economically superior cement concrete roads in the country to steer the flagging economy back on fast trajectory of growth.
Road Network of India Construction is the second largest economic activity in India after agriculture. India?s total road network is of 4.11 million km, which is the second largest in the world. National highways, the arteries of the nation, carrying nearly 40 per cent of the total road traffic, are in immediate need of modernisation. Nearly 21 per cent of their length has only a single lane pavement and at least one in every three km is in need of immediate attention due to cumulative neglect for the past two decades. The break-up of different categories of road network is shown below.
Indian Road Network National highways/ expressways – 80,000 km State highways – 1,46,294 km Major district roads – 2,66,058 km Other district roads and rural roads – 36,17,240 km Total 41,09,592 km
Pavements in India have many inherent weaknesses. Inadequate thickness, poor compaction of sub grade soil, ineffective drainage, low-cost specifications and poor riding quality are some of them. Excessive overloading of goods carriers adds to the problem. Maintenance of pavements is a neglected activity, leading to premature failures and loss of assets.
Pavements, which bear the heavy loads of modern vehicles, are the costly component of the road. Pavement design, construction and maintenance call for a high degree of skill and expertise. Good performance and economy are the key attributes of a pavement. There are two types of pavements in use, viz., flexible pavement and the rigid pavement. So far India has preferred the age-old conventional flexible pavement due to certain compelling reasons such as amenability to stage construction; constraints of funds; lower initial cost; and scarcity of cement.
Global scenario In many European countries, notably Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland, concrete roads were built on considerable length of the most heavily trafficked routes. In USA, nearly 60 per cent of the interstate highway system was built in concrete.
Recognising the need to foster competition and thereby ensure economical options, many countries have made it compulsory when calling for road-building tenders, to invite bids on both flexible and concrete specifications. In such cases, concrete roads scored over bituminous roads in several instances. The wide acceptability of concrete as a road pavement material is mainly due to certain principal advantages it scores over bituminous material.
Realising the loss of thousands of crores of rupees to the economy due to bitumen roads, which develop potholes and become unserviceable particularly after rains, the government of India has been providing major thrust to the construction of durable and long-lasting highways, urban and rural roads. Several schemes such as NHDP, PMGSY and JNNURM have been launched to achieve this goal. For the XII plan, the government has earmarked one trillion dollars for the infrastructure development of the country, a large chunk of this would be spent in the construction of roads and highways.
Concrete overlay/white topping Deterioration of bituminous roads in the cities specially during the rainy seasons is an annual feature and a perpetual problem. During the monsoon, the roads constructed with bituminous binders suffer severe damage causing great inconvenience to the users. All this results in wastage of precious and expensive fuel, increased travel time and creation of more pollution.
Concrete overlay over the existing bitumen roads (known as White Topping technology) is one of several such technologies that can provide long lasting road network in India. It is a major rehabilitation technology for improving old pavements with a strong, long life, and low maintenance structure. This technology has been developed over the last two decades, especially in USA, to improve the highways, runways, light duty roads and streets. It is very cost effective, fast and easy to construct.
In view of the serious doubts over the future availability of bitumen, a petroleum crude based commodity and its steep rising prices, many countries abroad are now adopting concrete overlays (white topping). In India, Mumbai city has taken a big lead in this direction. Many other cities like Pune, Nagpur, Indore, Chennai and Bengaluru have also been adopting white topping technology for city roads. The Cement Manufacturers? Association and cement companies in recent times have completed successfully three white topping technology demo projects in Jaipur, Bangalore and Chennai, which were all well accepted and appreciated by the concerned authorities of these states.
Why cement concrete roads A few major advantages of cement concrete roads are mentioned below: Long life The one big advantage of cement concrete road is the long life of 30-40 years. If the condition of the road is carefully monitored and a concrete overlay is provided just before the occurrence of extensive cracks, the life can be extended further.
Practically maintenance free Unlike a flexible pavement, the cement concrete pavement does not develop potholes and rutting. Thus, routine repairs such as pothole filling and patching so common in flexible pavements are not necessary. This saves money, materials and hindrance to traffic.
Economics of concrete roads One of the commonly held beliefs is that the initial cost of a cement concrete pavement is higher than that of a flexible pavement. This argument might have been valid when bitumen was available at low prices. Since the price of bitumen has sky rocketed in past few years, the construction of cement concrete road is now cheaper than bitumen roads by 4-10 per cent even initially. Although white topping and cement roads constructed in villages are a bit costlier initially due to their design aspects, they become cheaper after 4-5 years of their construction. Thus, when whole-life-cycle-costs are considered, a cement concrete pavement always emerges as the better and cost-effective alternative. The table above shows cost comparison of 7 mtr wide bituminous and concrete highway.
14 per cent Fuel Savings When heavy wheel load is put on a pavement, it deflects. The amount of deflection in pavement depends upon various factors such as, the wheel load; the flexural strength of the pavement and the soil support strength. A flexible pavement has low flexural strength, whereas a concrete pavement has high flexural strength. Because of its low flexural strength, a flexible pavement deflects considerably as the wheel of a vehicle passes over it. In case of concrete pavement, this deflection is very little. As a result, in the former case, the wheel has to overcome the large deflection bowl created in the flexible pavement as it moves along. This consumes a significant part of the energy that would otherwise be available to propel the vehicle. The consumption of fuel is consequently more on pavements that deflect excessively than on those that deflect less. Rigid pavements are thus more fuel efficient than flexible pavements, when the riding quality of both is the same. Commercial vehicles, which have heavy wheel loads, can thus derive the benefit of lower fuel consumption on rigid concrete roads. Experiments conducted in America have reported fuel savings of up to 20 per cent.
Limited experiments carried out in India have also shown fuel savings up to 14 per cent on concrete roads.
Assuming that all Indian trucks numbering approx 82 lakh in 2013 ply on cement roads and cover 300 km. in a day, the annual savings on account of diesel alone would work out to be over Rs. 1.71 lakh crore, considering the pan India average diesel price is Rs 60/ltr and that one ltr diesel gives a mileage of 4 km.
Savings on foreign exchange India imports about 83 per cent of its annual crude requirement. Crude import at high price leads to heavy drainage of foreign exchange. As per the provisional data released by the commerce and industry minister, the nation?s crude oil bill touched the Rs 7.85 lakh crore mark during the financial year ended 31st March, 2013. In the context of current depreciating value of rupee against dollar, the outgo of forex for the same quantity of crude import will go up significantly. The country?s colossal annual import bill on crude oil can definitely be brought down by at least 8 per cent if techno-economically superior cement concrete roads are constructed in the country as a policy, instead of conventional bitumen roads constructed which are mostly with the imported crude (bitumen is a residue of crude). In absolute terms, the value of the savings, if calculated on year 2013 import bill, would be Rs 63,000 crore to the least.
Better reflectivity resulting in 10 per cent savings on street lights Concrete being light coloured, reflects light. Hence, the illumination required for a concrete road is less than that for the dark coloured bituminous surface. For city streets, consumption of energy is thus 10 per cent less on cement concrete roads which if translated into money would work out to several crores of rupees to the economy.
Effective utilisation of fly ash Fly ash can replace cement up to 25-35 per cent in concrete for almost all usages. It is well known that fly ash is a waste-material produced in thermal power plants where coal is used as the fuel. Fly ash is pozzolanic and reacts with lime as the cement hydrates, thereby producing cementitious materials. Fly ash improves concrete strength, improves workability, increases durability and reduces the cost of concrete. Its disposal has become a great nuisance and health hazard.
Pollution-free construction Concrete batching and mixing plants do not cause pollution the way hot-mix bituminous plants do. This is a considerable advantage near towns and cities. There is mounting concern among the public to shift polluting bitumen plants away from habitations. In fact, the Supreme Court has banned hot mix plants in the capital.
Conservation of stone materials For a highway carrying high volume and heavy axle load traffic consumption of aggregate in flexible (bituminous) pavement will be approximately 50-70 per cent more than concrete pavement. Though various types of stone raw materials are available in good quantity is some parts of the country, they are scarce in the plains of northern India. Any technology that conserves aggregates should thus get precedence in national interest.
Ambient temperature A large volume of literature available (such as an article published in ?R&T Update,? by American Concrete Pavement Association (ACPA) dealing with heat reflectance; as also one published by the European Concrete Paving Association (EUPAVE) titled ?Concrete Roads: A Smart and Sustainable Choice?) establishes that construction of cement concrete roads lead to reduction in ambient temperature.
Misconception Apart from the mistaken belief that the cost of initial construction of cement roads is high, which has been amply clarified earlier, there has been another common misconception about higher incidents of tyre bursting on cement concrete roads which is not true. It has been found that the tyre burst cases are reported on small passenger cars when they were driven at 100 km/hr or higher speed. Under such conditions incidents of tyre burst would be similar on both concrete or bituminous roads. Highway specialists recommend that during long distance travel tyres should not be fully inflated. At high speeds that CC roads enable the driver to attain easily, the air inside the tyres gets heated up and expands. So it is of utmost importance to ensure that tyre inflation is kept within prescribed parameters in addition to ensuring that the speed restrictions indicated on the signages are scrupulously observed.
In conclusion It could be said there is a serious case for the government and other stakeholders in the road infrastructure segment to seriously consider concrete roads as a solution to many of the problems experienced with conventional road building methods. Cement roads would also go a long way in addressing a host of major concerns of the government without making any specific additional expenditure in respect of evolving measures for conservation of diesel/petrol, minimisation of forex outgo, protection of environment, generation of ample downstream employment opportunities, etc. All these, in turn, would have a ?domino effect?on our economy.
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Bonding Material
Initial Cost
Maintenance cost
Construction and Maintenance cost (Life Cycle Cost)
Two cement concrete pavement roads covering a total stretch of 2.2 km in Akhoya village were inaugurated on 27th June 2026 by MLA Nuklutoshi Longkumer, who attended as the special guest. The project comprises the one km L Pangersowa Road and the one point two km Longchara Junction to RC Chiten Jamir Memorial Government High School road. A formal programme followed the inauguration at the school auditorium.
A technical report was presented by Er Waloniba of the Urban Engineering Wing-III, Kohima, which stated the project was sanctioned in March 2026 under the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment scheme for 2025-26 at a sanctioned cost of Rs 29.1 million (mn). The work order was issued to M/s Ensign Construction on thirtieth April 2026 with a stipulated completion period of 12 months. Work commenced on fourth May 2026 and was completed on sixth June 2026, with the contractor and team finishing the tasks in around two months. The project included a single-lane cement concrete pavement with side drains, two slab culverts and breast walls at required locations.
Longkumer acknowledged the Chief Minister, the advisor for urban development, contractors and other stakeholders for the allocation and support, and he commended the contractor for early completion. He noted that cooperation from landowners and the community had been important in resolving land related issues that can otherwise delay developmental works. He emphasised that planned developmental activities carried out with collective effort would enable more projects to be implemented successfully.
The headmaster of RC Chiten Jamir Memorial Government High School, I Chubasenba Longkumer, outlined the school background, noting it was established in 1962, was earlier known as Government High School Changtongya and was renamed in 2014. Local representatives said the improved approach roads would ease access for students, staff, patients and the general public and fulfil a long standing aspiration of residents. A dedicatory prayer was offered by the pastor and the programme concluded with a ribbon cutting attended by village council and town council representatives.
Indian Cement Review (ICR) and Fuller Technologies brought industry, policy and technology leaders together to discuss how cement innovation can drive green construction at scale, writes Rakesh Rao.
India is building at a pace few countries can match. Highways, airports, housing, logistics parks, industrial corridors and urban infrastructure are reshaping the country’s economic geography. But beneath this growth story lies a difficult question: can India continue to build at scale without locking itself into a high-carbon future?
That question formed the core of an online panel discussion titled “Driving Green Construction Through Cement Innovation”, organised by Indian Cement Review (ICR) in association with Fuller Technologies as the Presenting Partner on June 25, 2026. The webinar brought together experts from cement technology, R&D, global industry platforms, building performance policy and international development cooperation to examine how low-carbon cement and material innovation can accelerate India’s green construction transition.
The discussion came at a crucial time. India has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and reducing the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 per cent by 2030. At the same time, the country’s construction sector is expanding rapidly, driven by urbanisation, infrastructure development, housing demand and industrial growth. Cement, as one of the most widely used construction materials, sits at the heart of this transition. It is indispensable to development, but also central to the challenge of reducing embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure.
Moderated by Nitika Krishan, Senior Urban Infrastructure and Sustainable Policy Consultant, the panel featured:
Dr Hemantkumar Aiyer, VP and Head R&D, Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd;
Devika Wattal, Innovation Lead, Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA);
Dr Sunita Purushottam, MD, GBPN India (Global Buildings Performance Network); and
Vaibhav Rathi, Senior Technical Advisor, GIZ (the German Agency for International Cooperation)
Setting the tone for the discussion, Nitika Krishan underlined the scale of the challenge before the sector. “The question before us is no longer whether we build, but how we build sustainably,” she said. She pointed out that construction accounts for nearly 40 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions when both operational and embodied carbon are considered. Cement production, she added, remains one of the hardest industrial processes to decarbonise.
For India, this is not merely an environmental issue. It is a development issue, a competitiveness issue and increasingly, a market issue. As one of the world’s largest cement producers and among the fastest-growing construction markets, India’s material choices will influence the carbon trajectory of its built environment for decades. As Krishan observed, sustainability solutions in economies such as India must not remain limited to laboratory success. They must be scalable, commercially viable and practical at national level.
The innovation gap: From technology to market
Experts believe that there is a need to bridge the innovation gaps for making decarbonisation in cement and concrete scalable. Devika Wattal of GCCA, explained, “The starting point must be the core cement manufacturing process itself. The first and foremost is the heart of our process, the heart of cement manufacturing. How do we reduce clinker? That is always a topic where industry is working very intrinsically.”
Clinker reduction remains one of the most important pathways for lowering emissions in cement. Since clinker production is energy-intensive and chemically emits carbon dioxide, reducing the clinker factor through supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), blended cements and new chemistries can have a significant impact. Wattal also noted that carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) will have a role, though it may not be the first lever for all markets.
However, she stressed that innovation cannot stop at technology development. A solution that works in the lab must also be adaptable to industry, scalable in production and acceptable in construction practice. “It is important for that innovation to be adaptable, to be scalable, and so that it can be executed in real time,” she said.
Wattal also called for stronger enabling systems around innovation. These include performance-based standards, product-level embodied carbon databases and clearer frameworks for evaluating green materials. Without these, low-carbon cement products may struggle to compete with conventional materials in procurement and design.
R&D must balance carbon, cost and performance
Bringing in the R&D perspective into the discussion, Dr Hemantkumar Aiyer of Nuvoco Vistas emphasised that low-carbon cement development cannot be treated as a single-variable exercise. Cement must perform in real construction conditions. It must deliver strength, durability, consistency and cost competitiveness, while also reducing carbon.
“The root of understanding and balancing all these aspects lies in materials, and knowing the materials,” he said.
According to Dr Aiyer, R&D teams must understand the variability of raw materials such as fly ash, slag and clinker. Different sources produce different material behaviours. This makes mix optimisation, material characterisation and processing-property relationships critical. When performance is affected, cement manufacturers must understand how strength enhancers, admixtures and other performance chemicals interact with the material system.
He also linked material science with process efficiency. Clinkerisation takes place at extremely high temperatures, around 1,400 to 1,450 degrees Celsius. Any improvement in raw mix design, process control or energy optimisation can, therefore, help reduce emissions and cost. Dr Aiyer pointed to artificial intelligence-based optimisation, Cement 4.0 tools and advanced software as important enablers for real-time process and material control.
“The more you understand the materials, the more you can control it,” he said.
LC3: The promise is proven, the sequencing is not
Limestone calcined clay cement, commonly referred to as LC3, has attracted global attention because it can reduce clinker content significantly by using calcined clay and limestone while maintaining performance in many applications. Kiranmai Sanagavarapu of Fuller Technologies said the technology itself has already moved beyond proof of concept. Fuller Technologies has worked with calcined clay technology for nearly two decades and has seen plants running in France and Ghana. These plants, she said, are meeting local and national specifications, while the economics are beginning to make sense.
“The calciner is performing, the economics is stacking up, it is making business sense to produce,” she said.
But if the technology is viable, why has adoption not scaled faster? For Sanagavarapu, the answer lies in project sequencing. Too often, clay characterisation happens after equipment is specified. This, she warned, is a backward approach because calciner design depends on clay mineralogy, kaolinite content, iron levels, reactivity, moisture and other variables.
“If you don’t know what your deposit looks like before you commit for the equipment, you are, in a way, going blind into designing,” she said.
She also identified permitting and plant integration as major bottlenecks. Environmental clearances, mining permissions and local regulatory approvals must begin early. Similarly, calcined clay must be integrated into existing grinding, blending and logistics systems from the design stage, not treated as an afterthought during commissioning.
India already has IS 18189:2023 standard for LC3, but Sanagavarapu pointed out that the standard is not yet visible enough in procurement documents. “The gap between what is technically being permitted and what the procurement is asking is the single biggest bottleneck,” she said.
In her view, successful scale-up depends on getting the sequence right: clay characterisation first, permitting in parallel, standards aligned with construction, and integration built into plant design.
India’s LC3 journey: Progress, but demand remains thin
Providing details of India’s LC3 commercialisation experience, Vaibhav Rathi of GIZ noted that JK Cement carried out the first commercial production of LC3 at its Rajasthan plant, followed by JK Lakshmi Cement three months later. These initiatives were supported by the International Climate Initiative of the Government of Germany, with IIT Delhi contributing deep institutional knowledge on LC3 research and BIS certification.
Rathi said India’s early experience has produced clear lessons. One of the biggest was the need to build capacity among regulators. While BIS certification existed, State Pollution Control Boards were unfamiliar with the technology and unsure about the approval pathway.
“The capacity building is not just needed amongst the producer and the users of the cement, but also the regulators who are working with this technology for the first time,” he said.
He also highlighted the need for better information on China clay deposits. Since China clay is currently classified as a minor mineral, centralised data on availability, quality and location is limited. If cement manufacturers are to adopt LC3 at scale, stronger mineral intelligence will be important.
The third issue is demand. LC3 has already been used in projects such as Palava City in Mumbai and Noida International Airport, but these remain limited examples. “It is in a chicken and egg situation,” Rathi said. “Cement companies are saying we need more demand, and users are saying there is not enough cement available.”
Public procurement, he suggested, could help break this cycle. If agencies such as CPWD and other public bodies begin testing, accepting and specifying LC3, it could create the market confidence needed for cement companies to invest in production and storage.
Building codes must catch up with innovation
Dr Sunita Purushottam of GBPN India argued that material choices will determine built environment emissions over the long term, but India’s current policy signals remain fragmented. Although LC3 has received BIS recognition, she pointed out that building codes, municipal bylaws, schedules of rates and sustainability codes do not yet provide uniform guidance on low-carbon cement.
“The current cement regulations are largely prescriptive and favouring traditional materials,” she said. This limits the ability of alternative materials to compete on performance, durability and emissions.
Dr Purushottam also raised the issue of taxation. Cement, including LC3, currently falls under the same GST bracket as conventional cement. A differentiated tax structure, she argued, could help accelerate market adoption. “In order for the market to demand LC3, that differentiation in the GST could go a long way,” she said.
She noted that green building certifications such as IGBC and GRIHA are already creating demand for low-carbon materials by assigning points for embodied carbon and sustainable material use. However, she said large-scale adoption will require regulatory mandates, particularly through building codes and state-level notifications.
She also cautioned that low-carbon cement alone does not solve the entire building performance problem. A material may reduce embodied carbon, but the operational carbon of a building depends on thermal performance, design, insulation and energy use. “The energy part has two elements,” she said. “One is the embodied carbon of the material itself, and the other is the operational carbon.”
Collaboration is the bridge between invention and impact
Wattal said GCCA sees innovation as a strategic priority and works through platforms that connect industry with academia and start-ups. “There is no way we will decarbonise our sector without innovation,” she said.
However, she stressed that research must be connected to actual industry challenges. Innovations developed in isolation may fail when they encounter real-world barriers such as raw material variability, plant integration, cost, standards and finance. Start-ups, too, need industry mentorship and scale-up pathways.
Wattal also flagged the importance of finance. Even strong technologies may struggle to attract investment if there is no common understanding of bankability. “We have always put projects into, is this a bankable project? But the definition of a bankable project has never been defined,” she said.
For India, she saw strong potential in its academic and start-up ecosystem, but said the challenge lies in alignment and prioritisation. The country has the research base, industrial capacity and market size. What it now needs is a coordinated route from innovation to deployment.
There is a practical concern for cement manufacturers: how can existing plants be adapted for lower emissions without compromising reliability or commercial viability?
Kiranmai Sanagavarapu addressed, “The reliability risk in calcined clay retrofit is definitely real, but it is almost always self-inflicted. The risk arises when a new process is added to an existing circuit without properly redesigning grinding and blending configurations.”
Existing cement plants, she explained, can take two broad routes. The first is external sourcing of calcined clay combined with mill optimisation. This requires lower capital investment and can potentially move in 12 to 18 months if other conditions are in place. It may reduce emissions by around 20 to 30 per cent. The second route is integrated calcination on site, which requires higher capital expenditure and longer lead times, but provides greater control over quality, supply and emissions reduction potential.
For Sanagavarapu, the principle is simple: low-carbon retrofits must be designed with intent. “Design it with an intent properly from the start. Start in the market conditions where the economics are already working,” she said.
Circularity: The overlooked advantage
According to Vaibhav Rathi, fly ash and slag are already well established in cement and construction (C&D), but construction and demolition waste remains underutilised. “C&D waste is a growing business opportunity which not many have taken up,” he said. India’s continuous construction and demolition activity creates huge volumes of waste, much of which contributes to air pollution, land degradation and material inefficiency. With the right processing and standards, this waste can be converted into useful construction products.
Rathi also pointed out that LC3 has a circular economy dimension that is often overlooked. It can use low-grade kaolin-rich clay left behind after high-grade clay is extracted for other applications. “LC3 is not only a low-carbon solution, but also a circular economy solution,” he said.
At the same time, he cautioned that LC3 in India is not yet cheap because it has not reached scale. Site-specific techno-commercial feasibility studies, supported jointly by development agencies and industry, could help companies assess whether LC3 production makes technical and financial sense at a given location.
Dr Purushottam added that India must address both low-carbon cement and construction waste together. “Both low-carbon cement and C&D waste go hand in hand. India does not have an option but to work on both,” she said.
Dr Aiyer called for policy shifts from both government and industry, including preferential purchasing of sustainable materials, minimum supplementary cementitious material requirements in public and public-private projects, and faster regulatory implementation. “If we can fast-track the regulatory standards and their implementation on the ground, that is the way to go,” he said.
From green ambition to green construction
Cement innovation is no longer only about chemistry. It is about systems. Low-carbon cement will scale only when technology, standards, procurement, finance, regulation, education and construction practice move together.
LC3 and other low-carbon technologies have shown promise. India has early commercial examples, strong research capability and growing market interest. But mainstream adoption will depend on whether demand can be created, regulators can be capacitated, standards can be embedded in procurement, and manufacturers can see a clear business case.
For a country building at India’s scale, the opportunity is enormous. Cement will continue to be central to infrastructure and urban development. The challenge now is to ensure that the cement used in India’s growth story carries a lower carbon burden.
Rakesh Rao
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JK Cement gained after being declared preferred bidder for the Gilund Limestone Block in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, a lease area of 370.96 hectares. The firm saw its shares trade at Rs. 5550.05, up by 28.45 points or 0.52 per cent from the previous close of Rs. 5521.60 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 5569.15 and touched a high of Rs. 5625.00 and a low of Rs. 5531.00.
The stock recorded turnover of 1742 shares on the counter and the BSE group A stock with face value Rs. 10 has a 52 week high of Rs. 7565.00 on 20-Aug-2025 and a 52 week low of Rs. 4670.05 on 12-Jun-2026. Last one week high and low stood at Rs. 5625.00 and Rs. 5329.00 respectively. The promoters holding in the company stood at 45.66 per cent, while institutions and non-institutions held 40.61 per cent and 13.73 per cent respectively.
The e-auction conducted by the Government of Rajasthan resulted in the company being declared preferred bidder for the mining lease, and the allocation will enable the company to plan phased development of the deposit, subject to regulatory approvals. The Gilund block spans 370.96 hectares and its allocation is intended to support raw material security for the company’s cement operations in the region. The designation follows the government auction process and will allow the company to plan development and integration of the deposit into its supply chain.
The current market capitalisation stands at Rs. 430.38 billion (bn), reflecting market response to the mining news and prevailing valuation levels for the sector. Investors and analysts will watch for formal allotment and related disclosures that can clarify timelines, capital expenditure and expected production profiles. The report is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice, and market participants are advised to consult advisers before making decisions.
