Economy & Market

Creating larger societal value

Published

12 years ago

January 31, 2015

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ACC has a firm commitment to create larger societal value. The company initiated its community development activities in pre-independence era and since then it has continued to engage with development initiatives with a host communities around its operations.

The communities living around ACC?s operations are the key stakeholders of the organisation. The company actively assists these communities in identifying, prioritising and meeting their developmental aspirations. It has adopted participatory community self-reliance initiatives across its sites in India by creating forums such as community advisory panel (CAP) which acts as a platform for the community, local district administration, NGOs and other opinion groups to come together and implement projects. The panels have proven to be valuable in presenting stakeholder views, review the progress of community projects, obtain timely feedback from stakeholders, and ensuring appropriate delivery of plan initiatives in a participatory method.

New CSR policy
In 2013, ACC revisited its CSR policy in view of the emerging regulatory framework. ACC?s Board constituted a CSR committee to particularly focus on guiding and monitoring of CSR initiatives of the company.

According to Pratyush Panda, Head – CSR, ACC, a wide range of social development initiatives were undertaken in partnership with local communities, government and non-government organisations. ?The initiatives reached out to people residing around ACC?s operational areas as well as to various disasters hit areas around the country. Focus of these initiatives were mainly on enhancing literacy and education for community, preventive health and sanitation, livelihood, employability and income generation, women empowerment, augmentation of community infrastructure, environment and other CSR initiatives such as promotion of local arts, culture and sports,? he says.

During 2013, ACC?s community development initiatives mainly focused on 132 villages, having a population of 0.6 million, located primarily around its 14 plants.

Education for society?s future
?ACC?s initiatives in education benefited 18,380 children in the neighbourhood communities. It has established schools at all its locations, where employees? children and those from surrounding communities are provided quality education,? says Panda. Management of these schools is outsourced to reputed educationists, thereby ensuring that the schools maintain high standards of education. Since most plants are situated in remote hinterlands, the ACC schools are at once the most accessible and invariably among the best in the region. The schools are supported by providing funds and infrastructure for initial construction, meeting a part of the teachers? salaries and up-gradation activities.

ACC continued to support seven Government-run Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), under a Public Private Partnership scheme (PPP), through a joint initiative with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. Its support focuses on enhancing the skills and employability of the students passing out of these institutes by upgrading the quality of education offered there.

ACC also runs two technical training institutes of its own, both of which enjoy considerable repute as centres providing technical training. The Sumant Moolgaokar Technical Institute (SMTI) at Kymore was first established in 1949 to train young men in specialized trades to become artisans, foremen and first line supervisors. It had its own independent curriculum and certification. Since 2008, the institute works with a revised objective of complementing the education received by engineering diploma trained candidates. In 2013, SMTI trained 120 young men through an 18 month course as Diesel Mechanic-cum-Fitter and Electrical Instrumentation. The other institute managed by it is the ACC Cement Technology Institute (ACTI) which offers specialized technical training to young engineering graduates. ACTI trained 166 boys and 32 girls during the year with both class room and practical trainings in operation and maintenance of cement plants.

Community development
The thrust in this respect comprises promoting health, women?s empowerment and creating livelihoods. These initiatives benefited more than 109,000 people directly while twice as many people were indirect beneficiaries.

Promoting health: Panda elaborates on AAC?s initiatives on promoting health. ?Health being one of the prime concerns of the community and critical for general wellbeing of ACC?s stakeholders, significant initiatives were undertaken in this domain. Total 109,450 people benefited from our various health and nutrition related initiatives.? ACC?s health initiatives mainly focus on preventive health of the community. Active awareness campaigns are undertaken to enhance communities understanding about various disease prevention and healthy ways of living. Regular preventive health support to the community is reached out through health camps and mobile health vans. Most of these plant sites are situated in remote parts of the country, with little access to adequate healthcare and medical services. ACC supports the local administration in promoting national health campaigns on important issues such as malaria, prevention and immunisation and DOTS. During 2013, 3,273 general and special health camps were conducted to reach out preventive care to community members. In addition, regular support to the ACC hospitals support was also extended to various government Primary Health Care centres and Community Health Care centres.

Special initiatives in healthcare and nutrition are taken for women and children in coordination with health authorities. Communities are mobilised to participate in programmes for immunisation, anti natal care, post natal care and birth spacing methods. Iron folic acid tablets were provided to prevent anemia among pregnant mothers and adolescent girls.

?The support to Anganwadi initiative would be one such example. Anganwadis are integral part of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) that plays a vital role in rural areas for overall development of children as well as support to pregnant and lactating mothers. ACC provided support to 132 Anganwadis that are serving the host communities. This has resulted in better supply and use of government?s medicine supplies through AWC which has direct impact on infant and maternal mortality,? explains Panda.

Other support activities included health and accidental insurance for Self Help Group (SGH) members and drivers in ACC?s supply chain, subsidised ambulance facility to villagers for their emergency needs and subsidised hospitalization of villagers.

Women?s empowerment: Various initiatives are pursued to promote skill building and income generating schemes for local women groups. Women SHGs are imparted relevant training in their selected livelihoods and supported in the establishment of micro-enterprises. As many as 737 SHGs were organised during the year. Members of these new as well as old SHGs were provided training for group cohesiveness, book-keeping, product development, marketing of the products, market linkages, bank linkages and exposure to best practices in SHG functioning. Some of these groups have initiated their own micro enterprises. Through bank linkages and inter- loaning, these members generated a total savings of Rs 1.52 crore.

ACC AHEAD (Association for Health, Education and Development), the volunteering wing of the company?s ladies clubs at all plants, set up in 2008, continued to support social volunteering and community programmes with special emphasis on empowering women. The group has been successful in creating livelihood opportunities for numerous community women in the areas of tailoring, embroidery, knitting, making masala, pickles, fancy bags, gloves and in making, disposable cups and plates.

Livelihood and employability: ?ACC believes in empowerment of people and assisting them in sustainability of their livelihood, as that will make the community self-reliant and increase their self-respect,? says Panda. During the year, ACC?s various initiatives in this direction benefited 17,288 people. Under its employability initiatives, it supported training of 3,579 youth from poor families in the host community, of which, 2,501 persons were placed with various employers enabling a similar number of families to live above poverty line.

Building infrastructure for liveable neighborhoods
ACC plays a vital role in facilitating the creation and maintenance of basic infrastructure around all its operations such as roads, safe drinking water, deepening of ponds, and repairs to schools, Anganwadi and other community amenities. ACC makes every possible effort to make these basic necessities available to the neighbourhood communities, according to Panda.

Wherever needed, NGO partners join in to ensure quality execution of the projects. Efforts are also taken to bring benefits of government schemes for the welfare of village communities. Previously, ACC?s initiatives for infrastructure development benefited 435,392 people. Each plant contributed in creation of water harvesting structures and installation of hand pumps for drinking water. Excavation of pond for irrigation and other water uses, directly and indirectly benefited 272,418 people, whereas drinking water initiatives benefited 72,294 people.

Disaster response initiatives
ACC?s disaster relief support initiatives in these disaster affected areas of Uttarakhand and Maharashtra benefited 8,703 people. Uttarakhand faced devastation during disastrous flash floods in June 2013. ACC?s Disaster Response Team (DRT) reached out to affected villages in Uttarkashi region. 24 volunteers from various units of north region joined hands with Sales Unit, Dehradun. ACC?s DRT provided relief to the people through ACC Mobile Health Unit, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, along with safe drinking water, food and clothing.

CSR activities ACC?s corporate social responsibility helps the company in various ways. From building a more motivated workforce to becoming a sustainable entity, ACC aligns its initiatives keeping in mind its goals. Some such examples are as below:
Alternate fuels & raw materials (AFR): The concept of AFR involves substituting mainstream non-renewable fuel resources like coal with replenishable alternate fuels. A subsidiary activity of AFR is waste co-processing which is basically a means of waste management. Under the mainstream AFR activities, currently the Gagal plant is using mill scale (a reject from steel rolling mills) as a substitute for iron ore.

A few of waste management initiatives undertaken by ACC are as follows:
Maddukrrai Solid Waste Management Initiative: ACC Maddukarrai Cement Works in association with the local Panchayat, and NGO Hand in Hand/SEED Trust launched the ?Clean & Green Madukkarai?. The vision behind the initiative was to make Madukkarai a plastic and garbage-free community by 2015.

Team Madukkarai also plans to set up a bio-gasifier plant which consumes the bio-waste and produce methane gas which will be converted to electricity. This electricity will be used for lighting the local street lamps.

Co-processing of pine needles as alternative fuel at Gagal: Every year, particularly during the summer months, large numbers of such fires create havoc in the forests of the sub Himalayas. Forest fires cause immense loss of nutrient, organic material from the soil, damage to soil micro-organisms, change in soil structure, destruction of plantations and local extermination of small animals and plants.

One of the main reasons of the fire spreading to a large region is the presence of large spreads of dry leaves and wood at the bottom of the forest cover. ACC Gagal proposed a workable solution to AK Thakur, DFO of Suket Forest Division, to permit the company?s CSR team along with local villagers to collect pine needles (locally called Chalaru) for co-processing in the cement kiln at Gagal.

Green Building Centres (GBC)
The ACC GBC is designed to be a state-of-the-art one-stop-shop for housing expertise which will offer locally produced, eco-friendly, easy-to-use and reasonably priced construction products.

oVisitors to the centre get a first-hand glimpse of locally produced and reasonably priced construction products, with ready access to knowledge and training on how to use and apply these products in a rural context. The ACC GBC comes fully equipped with a quality control laboratory. The centre also has equipment which enables builders to manufacture the products on their own and thus achieve further savings,? says Panda.

ACC has collaborated with architects and experts who can provide consultations regarding the project, product detail, application and design.

ACC associates with well-established enterprises as well as NGOs to promote local entrepreneurial talent. While the entrepreneur is responsible to manage the centre, ACC supports the venture by providing its branded products backed with proven technical expertise. The entrepreneur runs it as a business and thus has an incentive to work for its success, creating local jobs along the way. This helps in the development of talent among the local rural population. The materials available at the ACC GBC are produced from local resources and incorporate waste materials like fly ash, helping to reduce its carbon footprint significantly and in preserving earth?s natural resources, while simultaneously keeping costs down.

ACC?s stellar employees
ACC?s understands that CSR activities go a long way in building relationships. ACC has a large workforce of about 9,000 people, comprising experts in various disciplines assisted by a dedicated workforce of skilled persons. ACC employees, referred to as the ACC parivar, come from all parts of the country and belong to a variety of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. This helps ACC in connecting better with various communities across the country and to understand their needs. The dedication of the employees to pursue the CSR goal of the company reflects the special stellar qualities they possess. This has led to ACC employees being recognized as ?value-adding? human capital in the industry.

Pratyush Panda, Head – CSR, ACC
ACC believes in empowerment of people and assisting them in sustainability of their livelihood, as that will make the community self- reliant and increase their self-respect.

Concrete

Nuvoco Vistas, CleanMax Partner for Wind-Solar Hybrid Project in Rajasthan

Published

7 days ago

September 29, 2026

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The project – comprising 20 MW of wind and 26.4 MWdc of solar capacity – will support Nuvoco’s cement operations with cleaner power while strengthening its renewable energy and decarbonisation strategy.

Mumbai, September 29, 2026

Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd, part of Nirma Group and one of India’s leading cement companies, has partnered with Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions Limited (CleanMax), a renewable energy solutions provider for the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector, to develop a 46.4 MW wind-solar hybrid renewable energy project in Rajasthan.

The project will support Nuvoco’s cement operations with cleaner power while strengthening its renewable energy and decarbonisation strategy. It is expected to increase the share of renewable energy in Nuvoco’s power mix, reducing fossil fuel consumption and associated emissions.

Developed by CleanMax, an Independent Power Producer (IPP), at Bhikamkhore, Rajasthan, the project will comprise 20 MW of wind capacity and 26.4 MWdc of solar capacity, along with a 2-MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS). Power generated from the facility will be supplied to Nuvoco through the State Transmission Utility (STU) Open Access network.

The hybrid project is expected to generate approximately 100 million units (MU) of renewable electricity annually and help avoid around 1,25,485 tonnes of CO₂ emissions every year across Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

The initiative supports Nuvoco’s ongoing efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of its manufacturing operations through renewable energy adoption, Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS), energy-efficiency measures and increased use of alternative fuels. It also aligns with the company’s DIRE (Digitalisation, Innovation and Renewables) agenda, which focuses on climate action, renewable energy transition, water stewardship, circularity and biodiversity conservation across its manufacturing ecosystem.

Commenting on the initiative, Jayakumar Krishnaswamy, Managing Director, Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd, said, “This marks an important step in advancing Nuvoco’s journey towards more sustainable and resilient operations. Our collaboration with CleanMax will increase the share of renewable energy across our Rajasthan operations, strengthening our energy mix while improving long-term cost efficiency and reducing our dependence on conventional power sources. Initiatives such as these reinforce our commitment to operational excellence and responsible growth, while supporting our vision of Building a Safer, Smarter and Sustainable World.”

Kuldeep Jain, Founder and Managing Director, CleanMax, said, “Cement plants run continuously, so the power behind them has to be dependable for decades, not years. We’re seeing manufacturing industries view clean energy as an integral part of their core operations and long-term strategy. Our partnership with Nuvoco reflects that shift, and we’re pleased to support its decarbonisation journey. This wind-solar hybrid project is designed to deliver long-term cost certainty while supporting the Company’s transition to cleaner power.”

Nuvoco has been advancing its sustainability initiatives through renewable energy, operational efficiency and technology-driven solutions. The company operates across Cement, Ready-Mix Concrete (RMX) and Modern Building Materials (MBM) segments, with a presence across East, North and West India.

The company began operations in 2014 with a greenfield cement plant in Nimbol, Rajasthan, and later acquired Lafarge India Limited, which entered India in 1999, along with Emami Cement Ltd in 2020 and Vadraj Cement Limited in April 2025. With planned expansion initiatives, including a new grinding mill at the Arasmeta Cement Plant and multiple debottlenecking projects, Nuvoco aims to achieve a cement capacity of 35 MMTPA.

The company reported total income of Rs 113.62 billion in FY 2025-26, reflecting its continued growth trajectory. Its cement portfolio includes Concreto, Duraguard, Double Bull, PSC, Nirmax and Infracem brands, while its RMX business offers products under Concreto, Artiste, InstaMix, X-Con and Ecodure brands. Nuvoco also provides construction solutions under its Zero M range of modern building materials.

Concrete

UltraTech Cement achieves 100% green energy milestone at Chhattisgarh plant

Published

7 days ago

September 29, 2026

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UltraTech Cement’s Kukurdih Works becomes its first integrated unit to meet 100 per cent electricity needs through green energy every month.

Raipur (Chhattisgarh)

UltraTech Cement Limited, the world’s largest cement company outside China, has achieved a significant decarbonisation milestone, with its Kukurdih Cement Works integrated unit in Chhattisgarh meeting 100 per cent of its electricity requirement through green energy every month since April 2026.

Commissioned in 2024, Kukurdih Cement Works has an installed grey cement capacity of 3.3 million tonnes per annum. The unit achieved this milestone through a combination of renewable power sourcing and Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS), which now collectively meet its entire electricity demand while ensuring operational reliability.

Since April 2026, nearly one-third of UltraTech’s 76 manufacturing units in India have maintained green energy utilisation above 50 per cent of their electricity requirements. Five units, including Kukurdih, have exceeded 95 per cent green energy utilisation. The company is also progressively deploying Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) across its network to enable deeper renewable energy integration.

As part of its decarbonisation strategy, UltraTech has not invested in additional captive thermal power capacity for greenfield projects or brownfield expansions at its integrated units for over a decade.

As of Q1FY27, the company’s captive green energy capacity stood at 1,897 MW, comprising 1,463 MW of renewable energy capacity from solar, wind and hybrid sources, along with 434 MW of WHRS capacity. Under its RE100 commitment, UltraTech aims to increase the share of green power in its total energy mix to 85 per cent by 2030 and achieve 100 per cent by 2050.

UltraTech Cement Ltd, the cement flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, is a $10-billion building solutions company and the largest cement producer globally by sales volume outside China. The company has a total grey cement capacity of 210.1 MTPA and white cement/putty capacity of 3.5 MTPA. It is a signatory to the GCCA Climate Ambition 2050 and has committed to the Net Zero Concrete roadmap announced by GCCA.

Economy & Market

From First Mile to Last Mile

Published

1 week ago

September 28, 2026

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Praveen Vashistha, Founder, Gxpress Solutions, speaks about building a holistic logistics network that encompasses latest technology and current challenges faced by logistics service providers.

Logistics may seem to only entail transporting a package from one location to another. However, there is more to this term than just that. Logistics refers to the entire process of controlling all movement, transfers and decisions in the correct way at the right time and cost and with the desired level of visibility.

People nowadays want to receive more than just the delivery. They want quick, efficient, reliable and transparent logistics service. On the other hand, companies are facing higher operating costs, broken supply chains, congested cities, changing habits of consumers and growing complexity of logistics services. In this situation, a full logistics package is gaining importance not only as a competitive advantage but also as a necessity for a successful business.

The main challenge lies in uniting the first mile, the middle mile and the last mile into one seamless process.

The journey begins before the package moves

First-mile logistics may be the least recognised part of the logistics chain, but they have a crucial influence on all that follows.

This stage starts from the moment the shipment leaves the manufacturer, supplier, farm, warehouse or distribution centre. Depending on the industry, first-mile logistics may involve grouping shipments from multiple suppliers, compiling paperwork and checking the inventory before sending the shipments to a central hub.

Flaws in first-mile logistics produce effects later down the supply chain. Delays in cargo pickup can affect warehouse operations; improper packaging can damage goods in transit; and incorrect inventory information may cause stockholding or unnecessary replenishments.

This is why building a reliable network involves simplifying the operations done at the beginning of the supply chain.

Companies require accurate demand forecasts, supplier visibility, standard procedures, and software to capture information from the moment a shipment enters the supply chain. Route planning and fleet management are also important at this stage, especially as it may involve contacting multiple suppliers.

The main goal is simply to make the first mile predictable.

The middle mile: Where scale meets complexity

When products leave the original site, they travel through the ‘middle mile,’ which connects fulfilment centres, warehouses, sorting centres, and regional distribution points. In this phase, logistics networks begin operating on a large scale. A shipment can pass through several facilities before reaching the final destination. Each additional transfer entails the risk of delay or damage and information losses. Accordingly, the ideal solution is not to minimise the number of transfers but rather to optimise them. The use of hub-and-spoke networks, regional distribution centres, and strategically placed distribution centres can help companies shorten transportation routes and optimise distribution costs. Besides, data can be used to determine the optimal placement of inventories.

For instance, a retailer may find that it takes more time and is more expensive to deliver goods to customers if everything is stored in a central warehouse. Meanwhile, regional distribution helps meet the customer’s needs quicker and more efficiently.

The last mile is where the customer judges you

When it comes to the logistics experience, the customer experience comes down to the delivery. While the last mile might comprise a small part of the entire journey in actual distance, it could also entail expensive and difficult processes. Delivery runs through densely populated cities, through traffic jams, through unsuccessful delivery attempts, and through changing consumer preferences and narrowed time frames.

Customers want to have control over their delivery. Delivery means that customers expect to know the exact moment when their order is delivered. They need to receive current updates about their orders and the ability to decide whether they want scheduled deliveries, or whether they want their order to be dropped off at a designated location far from their house.

As a result, last-mile logistics must incorporate both efficiency and experience. The technology may be used to ensure timely and accurate delivery, through such products as route optimisation and real-time delivery tracking.

However, technology is not enough to guarantee success in terms of last-mile delivery. Knowledge of the local area is still an important aspect that contributes to successful delivery.

One network, not three separate operations

First, the common mistake that organisations can make is treating the first mile, the middle, and the last mile separately.

An effective first mile of logistics does not matter much if the shipment waits in a hub for many hours. A perfectly working warehouse does not make a happy customer if the last-mile delivery fails. Therefore, even the fastest last-mile delivery can become an expensive operation if the supply is not well geographically positioned.

The three moments should work together as one whole system.

This implies having a common view on inventory, transport capacities, shipment statuses and demand. The Transportation Management System, Warehouse Management System and order management system should give information to each other instead of acting like separate islands.

That is where real-time information comes into play!

If something happens, such as a vehicle gets delayed, the company has to know that from the start. If not, someone from Customer Service should be informed about the situation.

Visibility is the new infrastructure

Previously, companies had to rely on physical assets, such as warehouses, trucks, and sorting facilities, to create their logistics networks. Today, they have an additional layer of technology providing visibility.

Command-and-control systems now include GPS tracking, Internet of Things devices, bar-coding, RFID, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and analytics, which allow companies to know what the goods are doing, how well they are doing, and what is going to happen next.

Predictive analytics reveal possible delays. AI-powered forecasting increases availability. Digital dashboards enable the manager to monitor all operations in one place. The efficiency of such technologies is not measured in the amount of information they gather, but rather in their capability of converting data into knowledge.

Logistics managers should be able to answer the following questions: Where is it? When is it supposed to arrive? What causes the delay? What impact does it have? Can it be delivered some other way? How much will it cost?

The sooner the answers are given, the more resilient the logistics system is.

Resilience must be designed into the network

The events of recent years have highlighted the vulnerability of interconnected supply chains. Geopolitical tensions, bad weather, a lack of labour, poorly developed infrastructure and an unexpected spike in demand are some events that can cause problems for logistics systems without prior notice. Thus, companies should create an end-to-end network not just for normal times but also capable of functioning quickly in problematic situations. In order to create such a network, it is necessary to find alternative suppliers, use several means of transportation, create several routes of delivery, and establish inventory. It is also important to use scenario planning to define what to do if the main hub becomes unavailable or any means of transportation is blocked.

Sustainability: Part of the delivery equation

The future of logistics will also be shaped by environmental considerations.

As delivery volumes rise, businesses are under increasing pressure to reduce emissions without compromising service. Better route planning, load optimisation, electric vehicles, alternative fuels, renewable-energy-powered warehouses and consolidated deliveries can all contribute. The most sustainable shipment is often the one that does not require unnecessary movement in the first place.

Better demand forecasting and inventory placement can reduce empty miles and avoid repeated transportation. Consolidating deliveries can improve vehicle utilisation. Reverse logistics can ensure that products, packaging and materials return efficiently instead of becoming waste.

Sustainability, therefore, should not be treated as a separate initiative. It should be incorporated into network design itself.

The future belongs to connected logistics

An end-to-end logistics network ultimately seeks to close existing gaps between various processes.

Every mile of the process should be interconnected with the other miles. Warehouses should be aware of the restraints imposed by transportation. Delivery crews should be able to know at every moment the inventory at their disposal. Clients must have access to this useful information.

Companies that will be successful in this area will not necessarily be the ones with the biggest fleets or the most warehouses. They will simply be the ones that can employ their resources in the most effective manner.

The future of logistics will be represented by an ecosystem consisting of the combination of the physical aspect, digital intelligence, and personnel decisions. Every mile in the process of delivery is important. However, the key advantage here is getting those miles to work together.

For companies, it means having minimal resistance, enhancing their efficiency and improving customer care. For clients, it means simply having the right product delivered at the right time.

About the author: Praveen Vashistha, Founder, Gxpress Solutions,