Industry veterans, head honchos, thought leaders, policymakers and market analysts were all present under one roof for the second edition of the Indian Cement Review Awards 2016. They cheered the achievements of their peers and came away with actionable ideas that will surely transform the cement industry in the times to come. The second edition of the Indian Cement Review Awards 2016 was held on December 9th 2016 and was graced by Pratap Padode, Editor-in-Chief and Managing Director, ASAPP Info Global Group; Roshan Wadhera, Chief Advisor, Cement Expo; Sumit Banerjee, Chairman Editorial Advisory Board, Indian Cement Review; Ravneet Kaur, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP); Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO, Dalmia Bharat, and KK Taparia, Advisor, Binani Cement. They lit a ceremonious lamp on the occasion.
The special 30th Anniversary Issue of Indian Cement Review had ‘Staying ahead in the game’ as its emphasis, with content intended to give cement players a competitive edge. It also carried in-depth articles on logistics, energy efficiency, process control and alternate materials, among others. On the occasion of the awards ceremony, the 30th Anniversary Edition was unveiled by the Chief Guest, Ravneet Kaur. The speakers on the occasion were Padode, Wadhera, Kaur and Singhi.
In his welcome address, Padode gave a brief background about the INDIAN CEMENT REVIEW magazine. He said, ‘Today happens to be a great day to celebrate the wins and winners. The process of selecting the awards is a unique one. When we started off in the year 2003, and requested for financial numbers, questions were raised as to why would anyone share his numbers with you, when the same players are going to be pitted against each other.’ Padode said that the same situation also existed in other fields like construction, infrastructure, power, and equipment. ‘And we have been conducting award ceremonies for these sectors as well. Today the situation is much more different, transparency is the mandate. There is value seen in transparency. It reflects good governance and that translates into positive numbers in stock markets.’
He added that the methodology deployed for the ICR awards was a little different. ‘We asked for financial numbers for the last six years; companies trusted us in sharing the numbers even though they were competing against each other. Their benchmarking was done. Growth in revenue and growth in profit for the past six years was given equal weightage, therefore we recognised profitable revenue growth.’ This is how the award recipients were short listed.
Padode elaborated on the value-addition that ASAPP Info Global had imparted to these awards by saying, ‘The response for the conference has been very good. For the expo we have taken video clips of the exhibitors, along with their products and e-brochures, which will be uploaded on our website for those who could not be present for the expo.’ He further said that as the cement industry passes through an over-capacity cycle, staying ahead is really challenging. Therefore, the theme of the 30th Anniversary issue is ‘Staying Ahead in the Game!’ It talks about the four sub-areas where industry is focusing: logistics, energy efficiency, process control and alternate materials.
Wadhera, founder of the magazine, appreciated the efforts taken by the ICR team in organising the event. He mentioned that many of his contemporaries like Yadupati Singhania were not present on the occasion due to ill health, but he appreciated the presence of Umesh Shrivastava who has supported ICR right from the magazine’s inception.
Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO, Dalmia Bharat acknowledged the completion of 100 years of the Indian cement industry. He said, ‘I salute all those who are receiving awards today. They are the veterans of the industry.’ He made a special mention about Umesh Shrivastava, whom he said enabled the industry to move from ‘Dream to Stream.’ ‘In the long journey of the Indian cement industry we have milestones; we shall continue to have many more. But we have to think new. It’s a smart world today, like we have smartphones, smart TVs, Smart Cities, we should have a smart cement sector, said Singhi.
‘We must have a smart approach to stay ahead in the business. We should try our best to conserve natural resources and save power. We should focus on how to consume less and produce more. I am a strong advocate of the philosophy ‘Polluters’ Pay.’ All over the developed world this policy is practiced. It will help the climate change program of COP21 supported by the government,’ he said.
Exploring alternate sources of energy, he suggested solar energy and treatment of Municipal Solid Waste, which will support the Clean India movement. ‘Whatever we do should be measured properly, monitored correctly, and displayed courageously. To be more efficient we should concentrate on coal, power and fuel used in the industry. Natural resources like water need our attention. We as a group shall be water positive by end of 2017. By 2030 we as a group will use only renewable energy. We must work for the society. Create better livelihoods for people around us. Make your factory as an island of prosperity for them,’ said Singhi.
He further said that the cement industry needs to get better respect as a corporate citizen and the sector should try and improve its image in all areas.’ He added, ‘Demonetisation has given us an opportunity; let us make use of it. We should be agile to bear the shocks of demonetisation. Use of technology in our day-to-day life is the need of the hour. In our operations, a company like Holtec is there to support us.
Technology must be used to bring down cost. We must make sure that better technology is used in construction also.’ He applauded the Indian cement industry since it has one of the lowest carbon emissions among its global counterparts.
Kaur appreciated the ASAPP Group for instituting a lifetime achievement award for the cement industry. She applauded the efforts taken by the Indian cement industry to be ranked as one of the best for its achievements in energy consumption and emission norms. She mentioned about the hard work done by the earlier leaders and by the present generation of leaders for raising the standard of the Indian cement industry. About the future, she said that Smart Cities, dedicated freight corridors, and road development provide lot of opportunities. ‘We are signatories to COP21, hence SOX and NOX control is a must for us. As a supporter of COP21, we need to adhere to global emission standards,’ said Kaur.
She referred to the speech given by Mahendra Singhi regarding the use of waste. ‘Utilising fly ash, slag, and municipal and industrial waste are to be taken as an opportunity. The vendors who are present here need to support the industry by localising their offerings. They have to make equipment available that is fit for the Indian context. We should congratulate ourselves for where we are today,’ she said. Later on, Kaur distributed the prizes.
The Small Category winners:
- The Indian Cement Review trophy for the Second Fastest Growing Company in Small Category was given to NCL Industries. K Ravi, Managing Director, NCL Industries accepted the award.
- The next award was presented to M Krishnam Raju, Senior VP-Marketing, Deccan Cement, for the Fastest Growing Company in Small Category.
The Medium Category winners
- The Indian Cement Review trophy for the Third Fastest Growing Company in Medium Category was given to JK Lakshmi Cement and G Ingale and Milind Joshi, Dy General Manager, JK Lakshmi Cement, received the award.
- Ashwani Sharma, President and CEO-Uflex Ltd presented the Indian Cement Review trophy for Second Fastest Growing Company in Medium Category to JK Cement. It was presented to Madhavkrishna Singhania, Special Executive and Rajnish Kapur, Business Head, Grey Cement, JK Cement.
- The Indian Cement Review trophy for Fastest Growing Company in the Medium Category was given to OCL India, Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO, Dalmia Bharat and Amandeep Gupta, Director and CEO – Cement, OCL, received the award.
The Large Category winners
- The Indian Cement Review trophy for the Third Fastest Growing Company in the Large Category, was given to Century Cement and RS Doshi, Sr Executive President (Commer?cial), Century Cement, received the award.
- Ashwani Sharma, President and CEO-Uflex Ltd presented the award to Dalmia Bharat for Fastest Growing Company in the Large Category. Mahendra Singhi, Group CEO, Dalmia Bharat and RA Krishnakumar, Executive Director, Dalmia Bharat, received the award.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
- The ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was given to MH Dalmia, President – OCL, and Kaur gave away the prestigious award.
- The next ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was given to Umesh Shrivastava, Executive Chairman, Holtec Consulting and Pratap Kumar Ghosh, Initiator, ERCOM, presented him the award.
- Madhavkrishna Singhania, Special Executive, JK Cement, received an award on behalf of Yadupati Singhania, Director/Partner, JK Cement.
- PB Gopalakrishna, President (Manufacturing), Ramco Cement, received an award on behalf of PR Ramasubrahmaneya Rajha, Chairman, Ramco Group.
In his acceptance speech, MH Dalmia became very nostalgic and spoke about the style of working in earlier years. He spoke about the difficulties in getting resources and imported items for his plant, and the difficulties he had to face in procuring the spare parts for equipment. He surprised the audience by giving out some numbers like cost of power, coal, and cement and the salary he used to earn during those years.
Shrivastava, in his speech acknowledging the award, said, ‘This award is very special to me’. In life, he had received several awards, but this one was very special to him. He became visibly emotional, saying, ‘It comes to me from the industry for which I have been working for the last fifty and odd years.’
Saying he was all alone when he started off, Shrivastava said, ‘When I started in 1967, the cement capacity of the country was 13.7 million tonnes and production was 11.5 million tonnes. Today there is a 35-fold increase in numbers that indicates the growth the industry has gone through.’ He felt that the industry has made ‘all-round progress’ and was proud to be a part of it. ‘Today Holtec has a global footprint with 900 plus assignments outside India, and 4,000 plus assignments in India’ he said. At the end, Shrivastava said he would like to dedicate his award to his parents. The awards ended with a Vote of Thanks and a group photo was taken of all the winners with their trophies.