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We Care – Ambuja´s H&S Transformation Journey

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One of the leading cement producers in the country wants to be the leader in H&S function of plant operations also. For achieving good H&S performance on sustainable basis; requires not only good management system, but equally important, is ensuring its real on-ground implementation. Ashwin Raykundalia narrates his own experiences to ICR.

At Ambuja Cement, our vision is to be the most sustainable and competitive company in our industry. Being sustainable means a win-win situation from our economic, social and environmental performance. Managing Health & Safety (H&S) performance not only makes business sense, but also minimises the negative social impact it may have. Thus H&S forms an integral part of our sustainability strategy. We strongly believe that the organisations, where people are getting harmed would fail to exist in the long run.

At Ambuja, H&S is at the center of everything we do. Our aspiration is to conduct the business with the goal of Zero Harm to people and create healthy and safe environment for our employees, contractors, communities and customers. We started our structured H&S journey, since 2008, with the implementation of a good H&S management system. However, 2013 had been a bad year for us with an unacceptable H&S performance. The years of efforts put in strengthening H&S management system and infrastructure failed to guarantee good H&S performance, year on year. This made us to think through. Number of brain storming sessions among leadership teams took place on where we need to concentrate our efforts for sustainable H&S performance.

The outcome for achieving good H&S performance on sustainable basis requires not only good H&S management system, but equally important is ensuring its real on-ground implementation.

The challenge was in on-ground implementation of H&S management system in the right spirit. Analysis indicated, some people take pride in taking risk while a few others want to take a short-cut to finish the job faster, as it normally gets rewarded.

However, we also found there were real issues that increased disconnect between the line team and H&S requirements. These being:

  • Issues between the line team and H&S requirements
  • Systems and process established or mandated were too exhaustive and far off from ground realities that encouraged people to bypass it
  • Lack of clear communication lead to non-uniform understanding of the H&S requirements even among different H&S professionals
  • H&S being mainly ?Top Down? approach, communication not reaching up to the last person in the hierarchy. This leading to lack of visible actions from leadership at different levels to demonstrate H&S as clear priority
  • Lack of reward & recognition for properly following or consequences for not following H&S requirements
  • People do not perceive the risk in the environment they have grown with e.g., crossing the road from anywhere and not only at Zebra crossings
  • Lack of competency in doing proper hazard identification and risk assessment. Often, the root cause of incident indicated failure to identify the hazard at the first place.
  • Even for identified hazards, control measures proposed are administrative or PPE instead of higher level controls like elimination, substitution and engineering measures Non-availability of skilled manpower for execution of the job
  • People mindset is that they would never be the victim of an accident
  • People not being aware of potential consequences of their behavior or actions
  • Line team often thought H&S performance is the responsibility of H&S professionals.

We realised that increased participation and focused intervention are the key to move up fast on H&S maturity. To make Health & Safety a mass mission and address above issues, we at Ambuja Cement launched

?We Care? Our Health & Safety Transformation journey during 2nd half of 2013. The tagline of the program being Hamara Suraksha Hamara Haath. The program aimed to bring following change:

(Refer to Figure-1 on earlier page)

H&S as Line Leadership:
To bring ownership towards H&S performance in the line team, we divided our plants into small geographical area, called Zones. One of the line managers was assigned the responsibility as Zone owner. Apart from his regular line responsibility, the Zone Owner takes ownership of H&S performance of his zone. Additionally we identified a Safety Ambassador, typically a direct supervisor of workmen group. All Zone Owners and Safety Ambassadors were trained on H&S technical aspects and behavioural aspects for them being the change agents (demonstrating role model behavior) in our H&S transformation journey.

The performance of Zones was monitored on a monthly basis, based on predefined criteria. Zone owners were also empowered to rate H&S KRA of his zone members in Annual Performance Management. This has also helped in developing Zone Owners to practice leadership qualities.

Performance dialogue and Wave, the processes extended from Ambuja?s established manufacturing excellence program –People Power?, which also helped in developing ownership in the line team toward H&S performance. (Refer to Figure-2)

Top driven to bottom-up approach for engaging people and enforcing compliance
It is important to reach out to each and every person involved explaining the importance of H&S for his/her own life apart from importance to the company. The dedicated Townhalls on H&S, directly addressed by the leadership team, Web casted across Ambuja locations and ?We Care? sensitisation workshops helped us in achieving this goal. We directly reached out to all the people (more than 12,000) at our plants in 2014 and again in 2015, and listened to their point of view. We formed work groups of cross functional teams working on received inputs to convert into actionable things for implementation. This helped in demonstrating that efforts toward the change are genuine and also getting buy-in from different functions.

The inputs received helped in establishing a comprehensive reward & recognition scheme for proactive interventions to improve H&S performance. In 2015, more than 350 individuals became ?Ambuja Safety Heroes? and more than 30 teams were rewarded. These proactive interventions are captured as best practices, which are shared on a regular basis across Ambuja, thus developing the learn & share culture and multiplying successes. This helped in engaging people across all levels.

Inputs were also used in refining H&S processes and adopting engineering solutions to reduce/eliminate risks. Consequence management policy also established to deal with violations of H&S requirements, clearly demonstrating H&S as the priority. (Refer to Figure-3)

Engaging people is the first step. However, for sustained H&S performance capability, building is equally critical. We developed customised training programs for people working in focused areas ? risky operational task and trades, defensive driving training for the truck driver, etc.

Making H&S a mass mission
We did not limit ourselves within the boundaries of our plant. We thought that nurturing safety culture in schoolchildren can serve two purposes? they would help in correcting the unsafe behaviors of their parents and they would grow up with right H&S practices and behavior. So we developed and implemented H&S curriculum focusing road safety and safety at school and safety at home at all Ambuja Schools. Our CSR wing, Ambuja Cement Foundation, is also helping us to create awareness within community around our plants.

We Care program has helped in bringing visible improvement in H&S performance for Ambuja.

Thus managing H&S performance needs a lot to deal with people aspects. H&S needs to become the mass mission of an organisation if the goal of ?Zero Harm? to people is to be achieved. Ambuja Cement has been able to successfully engage people and bring a sense of ownership towards H&S performance in the line team through ?We Care? program. We believe this is the step forward in our journey to achieve leadership position in H & S performance.

Ashwin Raykundalia, Head -Health & Safety, Ambuja Cements Ltd

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Concrete

Charting the Green Path

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The Indian cement industry has reached a critical juncture in its sustainability journey. In a landmark move, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has, for the first time, announced greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity reduction targets for 282 entities, including 186 cement plants, under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, 2023. These targets, to be enforced starting FY2025-26, are aligned with India’s overarching ambition of achieving net zero emissions by 2070.
Cement manufacturing is intrinsically carbon-intensive, contributing to around 7 per cent of global GHG emissions, or approximately 3.8 billion tonnes annually. In India, the sector is responsible for 6 per cent of total emissions, underscoring its critical role in national climate mitigation strategies. This regulatory push, though long overdue, marks a significant shift towards accountability and structured decarbonisation.
However, the path to a greener cement sector is fraught with challenges—economic viability, regulatory ambiguity, and technical limitations continue to hinder the widespread adoption of sustainable alternatives. A major gap lies in the lack of a clear, India-specific definition for ‘green cement’, which is essential to establish standards and drive industry-wide transformation.
Despite these hurdles, the industry holds immense potential to emerge as a climate champion. Studies estimate that through targeted decarbonisation strategies—ranging from clinker substitution and alternative fuels to carbon capture and innovative product development—the sector could reduce emissions by 400 to 500 million metric tonnes by 2030.
Collaborations between key stakeholders and industry-wide awareness initiatives (such as Earth Day) are already fostering momentum. The responsibility now lies with producers, regulators and technology providers to fast-track innovation and investment.
The time to act is now. A sustainable cement industry is not only possible—it is imperative.

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Concrete

It is equally important to build resilient building structures

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Manoj Rustagi, Chief Sustainability Officer, JSW Cement, discusses how the adoption of ‘green’ practices in cement manufacturing could reshape the future of sustainable construction worldwide.

Cement is one of the most carbon-intensive materials in construction — but innovation is changing that. As sustainability becomes central to infrastructure, green cement is emerging as a viable low-carbon alternative. In this detailed interview with Manoj Rustagi, Chief Sustainability Officer, JSW Cement, we explore what makes cement ‘green’, its performance, and its future. From durability to cutting-edge technologies, here’s a look at the cement industry’s greener path forward.

What exactly is green cement, and how does it differ from traditional cement?
At this point in time, there is no standard for defining green cement. A very simple way to understand ‘Green Cement’ or ‘Low Carbon Cement’ is the one which emits much lower greenhouse gasses (GHG) compared to conventional cement (Ordinary Portland Cement – OPC) during its manufacturing process.
In India, there are many existing BIS Standards for different types of cement products. The most common are OPC; Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC); Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Composite Cement (CC). While OPC emits maximum GHG during its manufacturing (approx 800-850 kg CO2/MT of OPC), PSC emits least GHG (approx 300-350 kg CO2/MT of PSC). As PSC is having close to 60 per cent lower CO2 emission compared to OPC, it is the greenest cement available in the Indian market.
There is already work happening at the central government level to define green cement, like it has been recently done for green steel, and hopefully in the next one year or so the standard definition would be available.

What are the key environmental benefits of using green cement?
The primary environmental benefits of green or low-carbon cement are:

  • Reduced CO2 emissions
  • Lower energy and power consumption
  • Conservation of limestone and fossil fuels
  • Utilisation of industrial by-products
  • (slag/fly ash)

Can green cement match the durability and strength of conventional cement?
PSC is much more durable than any other type of cement product. It has lower heat of hydration; the strength keeps on improving with time; and it has much higher resistance to chloride and sulphate attacks. Most of the concrete failures are because of chloride and sulphate attacks, which corrode the steel reinforcements and that is how cracks get initiated and propagated resulting in eventual concrete failures. For coastal applications, marine structures, seaports, and mass concreting, PSC is most suitable. Due to the intrinsic durability characteristics of PSC; it is a green and resilient cement product.
Usually everyone talks about lower GHG emissions, but it is equally important to build resilient building structures that can withstand natural calamities and have much longer lifespans. PSC is one cement type that is not only lowest in CO2 emissions but at the same time offers durability characteristics and properties (RCPT, RCMT, Mercury Intrusion, long term strength and flexural strength), which are unmatched.

What innovative technologies are being used to produce green cement?
To further reduce the CO2 emissions in the manufacturing process; some of the innovative technologies which are commercially viable are:

  • Alternative raw materials: Use of steel slag, red mud and other industrial by-products to substitute limestone
  • Alternative fuels: Use of RDF/MSW, pharmaceutical wastes like biomass etc., to substitute coal/pet-coke
  • Waste Heat Recovery (WHR): Power plants to generate electricity from waste heat
  • Renewable energy: Solar and wind energy instead of state grid

How cost-effective is green cement compared to traditional options?
All of the above innovative technologies do not increase the cost of manufacturing. There are some future technologies like Carbon Capture, Utilisation and/or Storage (CCUS), which are not commercially viable and would increase the cost of cement. As such, the options available today for low-carbon cement (like PSC) are not expensive.
The Government of India has recently notified Indian Carbon Market (ICM), which also includes the cement sector. Hopefully, this would help progressive companies to further reduce their carbon footprint.

What challenges does the industry face in adopting green cement on a large scale?
There is absolutely no incentive/motivation for builders/contractors to use green cement products and therefore there is practically no demand. While the industry has taken many steps. In fact the Indian cement industry is believed to be most energy efficient globally and has approximately 10 per cent lower GHG emissions compared to global average. But due to lack of awareness and lack of performance based standards; the demand for low carbon cement or green cement has not picked up in India.

Are governments and regulators supporting the shift to green cement?
In India, in the last couple of years, there have been many policy interventions which have been initiated. One of them, namely the carbon market is under notification; others like Green Public Procurement, Green Cement taxonomy and National CCUS Mission are in the advanced stages and are expected to be implemented in the next couple
of years.

How do you see the future of green cement in global construction?
Globally the built environment accounts for 40 per cent CO2 emissions; and the maximum embodied emissions come from cement and concrete. There is a lot of innovation happening in cement, concrete and construction. Basically, how we build and what material we use. And this is to do with both carbon mitigation as well as adaptation as the built environment is so important for sustainable living. Precast and pre-engineered buildings/structures, 3D concrete printing, ultra high performance concrete, digital and AI/ML interventions in construction, admixtures/improved concrete packing; and circularity in cement manufacturing are some examples. Low-carbon cement or green cement eventually will lead to ‘Net Zero CO2 emission’ cement, which would enable a ‘Net-Zero’ built environment that is needed for long term sustainability.

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Concrete

Solid Steps to Sustainability

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Milind Khangan, Marketing Manager, Vertex Market Research, looks at how India’s cement industry is powering a climate-conscious transformation with green cement at its core, aligning environmental urgency with economic opportunity.

The cement industry produces around eight per cent of the world’s total CO2 emissions. Process emissions, largely due to limestone calcination, contribute 50 to 60 per cent of these emissions and produce nearly one ton of CO2 per ton of cement produced.
India is a leading cement producer with an installed capacity of around 550 million tons (MMT) as of 2024. As the Government of India advances toward its 2070 net-zero target, green cement is becoming a major driver of this shift toward a low-carbon economy. It offers environmental sustainability as well as long-term operating efficiencies at scale. With the fast-paced urbanisation and infrastructure development across the nation, the use of green cement goes beyond environmental imperatives; it is also a strong strategic business opportunity. Indian cement players are some of the most sustainable and environmentally conscious players in the world, and indigenous cement demand in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10 per cent until 2030.

Innovating sustainably
Green cement is an umbrella term that includes multiple advanced technologies and processes aimed at minimising the environmental footprint, and CO2 emissions of conventional cement manufacturing. This shift from traditional practices targets minimising the carbon footprint throughout the whole cement manufacturing process.

  • Clinker substitution: Substitution of high-carbon clinker with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in order to considerably lower emissions.
  • Alternative binders: Developing cementitious systems that require minimal or no clinker, reducing reliance on traditional methods.
  • Novel cements: Introducing new types of cement that depend less on limestone/clinker, utilising alternative modified processes and raw materials.
  • Energy efficiency and alternative fuels: Optimising energy utilisation in production and substituting fossil fuel with cleaner alternatives coming from waste or biomass.
  • Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS): Trapping CO2 emissions at cement plants for recycling or geological storage.

Drivers and strategic opportunities
Robust infrastructure development pipeline: The government’s continued and massive investment in infrastructure (roads, railways, housing, smart cities) generates huge demand for cement. Crucially, there is a growing preference and sometimes direct requirement under public tenders for sustainable building materials, including green cement, which is giving a significant market stimulus.
India’s national climate commitments (NDC and Net Zero 2070): India’s commitments under the Paris Agreement (NDCs) and the long-term goal of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2070 have set a clear direction for industrial decarbonisation. This national strategy necessitates action from high-emitting sectors such as cement to adopt green cement technologies and carbon-reducing innovations across the construction value chain. Notably, the Indian cement industry alone is expected to generate nearly 400 million tonnes of GHG emissions by 2030.
Regulatory mandates for fly ash utilisation: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released a number of binding notifications that promote the use of fly ash from thermal power plants. These guidelines seek to reduce environmental impact by enhancing its extensive application in cement production, particularly in Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC). Fly ash acts as a pozzolanic material, reacting with calcium hydroxide to produce cementitious compounds, hence decreasing clinker consumption, a high-energy component contributing to high CO2 emissions. Through clinker substitution facilitation, such mandates directly enable the production of low-carbon green cement.
Promotion and utilisation of blast furnace slag: Steel plant slag utilisation policies provide a ready SCM for manufacturing Portland Slag Cement (PSC). This is advantageous in terms of the supply of another key raw material for green cement manufacturing.

Increased demand due to green building movement
The larger adoption of green building codes and certification systems such as GRIHA and LEED India by builders and developers promotes the use of materials with reduced carbon content. Cement products with a higher SCM content or produced through cleaner processes are preferred. A step in this direction was achieved in October 2021 when Dalmia Cement achieved the distinction of being the first Indian cement producer to be granted the Green Product Accreditation of GRIHA.
The Indian industry is actively investing in R&D for new binders such as geopolymer cement, alkali-activated materials and limestone calcined clay cement (LC3). Research institutions including IIT Madras are collaborating with industry to scale these technologies. Although Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) is still at a nascent stage in India, it represents a potential frontier for long-term decarbonisation in the cement sector.
The MoEFCC has published draft regulations under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 2023, in the form of the Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity Target Rules, 2025. The draft notification requires 186 cement units in India to lower their GHG emission intensity from FY 2025-26. Non-compliant manufacturers will have to purchase carbon credit certificates or face penalties, creating a clear regulatory and financial incentive to adopt cleaner technology. The CCTS will promote technology and practice adoption that reduces the carbon intensity of cement manufacturing, potentially resulting in the use of green cement and other low-carbon substitutes for cement.
India’s leading cement companies like UltraTech, Shree Cement, and Dalmia Bharat have made science-based targets and net-zero emissions pledges in line with the GCCA 2050 Cement and Concrete Industry Roadmap. These self-declarations are hastening the shift towards clean cement manufacturing technology and renewable energy procurement.

Challenges and complexities in India’s green cement transition
Economic viability and cost challenges: High production costs associated with low-carbon cement technologies remain a significant hurdle. The absence of strict carbon pricing and poor financial incentives slow down rapid uptake on a large scale. Although green cement is currently costlier than conventional options, greater market adoption and scale-driven efficiencies are expected to progressively narrow this price gap, enhancing commercial viability over time. As these technologies mature, their broader deployment will become more feasible.
Inconsistent supply chain of SCMs: A dependable supply of high-quality Supplementary Cementitious Materials (SCMs), such as fly ash and slag, is crucial. But in the course of decarbonisation of India’s power generation and industry sectors, SCMs reliability and availability may become intermittent. Strong, decentralised logistics and material processing units must be developed in order to provide uninterrupted and economical SCM supply chains to cement producers.

Gaps in technical standards and performance benchmarks
Although PPC and PSC are well-supported by existing BIS codes, standards for newer materials such as calcined clay, geopolymer binders and other novel SCMs require timely development and updates. Maintaining steady performance, lasting robustness, and usage dependability in varying climatic and structural applications will be key to instilling market faith in other forms of cement formulation. Market stakeholders are also supporting separate BIS codes for the green cement sub-categories for helping to build and sustain standardisation and trust.

Scaling of emerging technologies
Scaling promising technology, especially CCUS, from pilots to commercial scales within the Indian context involves significant investment of capital, technical manpower, and a facilitating regulatory environment. The creation of infrastructure for transportation and long-term storage of CO2 will be critical. While these facilitative systems are implemented, cement makers will be well-placed to decarbonise their operations and achieve national sustainability goals.

The way ahead
The Indian cement industry is poised to enter a revolutionary era, where decarbonisation and sustainability are at the heart of expansion. Industry players and the government need to join hands in an integrated manner throughout the cement value chain to spearhead this green revolution. Cement companies must embrace new technologies to lower the emissions like the utilisation of alternative fuels like biomass, industrial wastes, and recycled materials and utilisation of waste heat recovery systems to make energy efficient. The electrification of logistics and kilns, investigation of high-heat alternative products, and CCUS technology investments must be made to decarbonise production. Sophisticated additives such as polymers can improve cement performance with reduced environmental footprint.
At the policy level, the government has to introduce support measures such as stable carbon pricing, tax relief, viability gap funding, and initiatives such as the PLI scheme to encourage the use of renewable energy in cement manufacturing. Instruments such as carbon contracts can stabilise carbon credit prices and reduce market risk, encouraging investment in low-carbon technologies. Updating BIS standards for newer green cement formulations and SCMs is also critical for market acceptance and confidence. Green cement mandates in public procurement and long-term offtake contracts have the potential to generate stable demand, and green financing windows can guarantee commercial viability of near-zero carbon technologies. Cement greening is not a choice, it is a necessity for constructing a climate-resilient, sustainable India.

About the author:
Milind Khangan, Marketing Manager, Vertex Market Research, comes with more than five years of experience in market research and lead generation. He is responsible for developing new marketing plans and innovations in lead generation, having expertise in creating a technically strong website that generates leads for startups in market research.

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