The yearly event held in Mumbai received good footfalls. One particular highlight was the enhanced participation from Chinese companies.
U BM India organised its yearly event, ?Concrete Show India? from May 19 to 21 at Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre, Goregaon, Mumbai. The show was inaugurated by Chief Guest Eknath Sambhaji Shinde, Cabinet Minister, PWD (MSRDC, Public Undertaking), Government of Maharashtra, along with other key dignitaries like Gajanan Kirtikar ? Member of Parliament; Varun Sardesai- youth leader; S M Ramchandani, Joint Managing Director, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd (MSRDC); N A Viswanathan, Secretary General, Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA); Dr Manamohan R Kalgal, President, Indian Concrete Institute (ICI) and Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, UBM India.

The participants of the event included important players from concrete and construction, construction equipments & IT systems and construction chemicals. The show displayed the latest technologies and developments in the market. It also showcased new product development and innovations from leading companies. In fact, some of the companies launched their new products and services on the occasion. The show has offered a platform to companies like Owens Corning (India) Pvt. Ltd., Master Construction Solutions, Meher Velsycon, Ashtech, Hicrete and many more to showcase their innovations and solutions. The participants of the exhibition this time included around fifty and odd companies from China related with the construction industry. They received a good response from visitors.

The event also had a conference where eminent speakers joined either through panel discussion or lectures. The topics covered were:

• New design concepts and methods for long-term performance, robustness with respect to severe environment conditions and loading.
• Earthquake safety of homes in India (and understanding the bottlenecks in implementation of earthquake codes). Environmental lifecycle assessment and lifecycle cost analysis of concrete buildings.

Also covered were topics like high-performance concrete application in infrastructure, fortified building codes and community initiatives focusing on disaster resistance and adaptive reuse.
The speakers included Dr Harshvardhan Subbarao, P Y Manjure, Dr Himanshu Raje, Ashutosh Ranjan, Vijay Kulkarni and Dr V V Nori.

Sustainable Cement
An interesting topic for cement companies was the participation of the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for ?Sustainable Cement & Concrete in India, Italy?s Knowhow and Experience? The speakers included Ugo Ciarlatani, Consul General of Italy in Mumbai, Mauro Mariani, Commissioner, Italian Trade Commission (Mumbai Office), L Rajashekhar, Chairman, Technical Committee, Indian Cement Manufacturers Association, V Rajesh, Zuari Italcement Group India Pvt Ltd, Nidhi Dixit, Managing Partner, ArcAllusions Architects. It was announced that consultancy would be offered on ?Green certification? of the products to Indian industry.