Economy & Market

Regional mix helps Ambuja post strong results

Published

9 years ago

July 31, 2017

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Ambuja Cements’ exposure to west, north and east India drove strong growth in realisations, which were much better than the forecasts. Cement volume growth of 5 per cent was also a positive in the current context, driving market share gains. The company managed to post the highest unit EBITDA in nearly 19 quarters, as was the case with its 50 per cent-sub, ACC. Net earnings still fell 13 per cent YoY to Rs 3.9 billion, which was 22 per cent ahead of the estimate.

Ambuja’s 2Q standalone EBITDA rose 6 per cent YoY to Rs 6.1 billion, 19 per cent ahead of our estimate. Depreciation was a bit lower and so was other income; the tax rate of 28.2 per cent too came in a bit lower. Net earnings declined 13 per cent YoY to Rs 3.9 billion, which was 22 per cent ahead of our estimate. Consolidated EBITDA (including ACC) was up 21 per cent YoY to Rs 12.9 billion while net earnings rose 7 per cent YoY to Rs 5.6 billion.

Ambuja reported 5 per cent YoY growth in cement volume with overall volume up 4 per cent; this was a tad lower than our forecast. Cement realisation, however, rose at a strong 11 per cent QoQ to Rs 233 per bag. Ambuja benefitted from its strong presence, as all its regions had strong pricing trends. We believe that prices rose the most in west India followed by north and then the east. Overall costs were also under check with unit cost up just 1 per cent QoQ. The cost of manufacturing (materials+energy) rose 2 per cent QoQ while freight was marginally down. Unit EBITDA increased to a 19-quarter high of Rs 1,010 per tonne (+67 per cent QoQ). Ambuja’s 50 per cent-held subsidiary, ACC, reported better results than we had expected led by higher volume and lower costs. Overall 2Q EBITDA rose 20 per cent YoY to Rs 5 billion, 12 per cent ahead, and a saw strong beat at the net earnings level too. Volume growth of 10 per cent was also strong led by new capacity in the east with a 5 per cent QoQ rise in net realisations. Unit EBITDA at ACC was also at a 19-quarter high of Rs 735 per tonne.

JSW IPO to hit market in 2019
JSW Cement, a subsidiary of JSW Steel, announced that it is looking at a valuation of around Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore when it issues its initial public offer (IPO) in 2019.

The company is eyeing at raising Rs 2,500-Rs 3,000 crore from a 10 per cent dilution in the first phase. It plans to propose for an IPO after 2019 general elections as the company want to be a 20 MT cement company with limestone reserves in two to three states.

Govt nod for Cement Corp revival
The Government has approved revival of the three operating units of state-owned Cement Corporation of India and will shut down the non-operating units of the company. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Babul Supriyo said that the Government has approved ‘revival (of Cement Corporation of India) as a public sector enterprise’through closure of non-operating units and revival of three operating units.

The Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises had recommended closure and sale of non-operating units and revival of operating units as a public sector enterprise. However, in its reply, the Government was silent on the sale of the non-operating units and said it has approved their closure.

PWD to use green tech for laying roads
The Public Works Department (PWD) will go in for Cold In-Place Recycling (CIR) of bituminous pavement, an environment-friendly green technology for laying roads. The National Highway wing of the PWD is adopting the new technology close on the heels of using shredded plastic, rubber, application of geosynthetics, coir geotextiles and pavement recycling to enhance the life of road corridors.

The National Highway 66 corridor between Pathirappally and Purakkad in Alappuzha district has been subjected for the first time in the State the CIR, a rehabilitation technique of pavement in which the existing materials are reused. Of the 28-km stretch identified, 16 had been relaid using green technology with Indian Road Congress (IRC) specifications and is offering cozy ride to motorists, Chief Engineer, PWD, NH KP Prabhakaran told. The remaining stretch in Alappuzha will be taken up after the rain and has plans to use it to more NH corridors.

The Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) material is obtained by milling, planning or crushing the existing pavement. RAP material along with fresh aggregate are mixed, laid and then compacted. The CIR can restore old pavement to the desired profile, eliminate ruts, restore the crown and cross slope and eliminate potholes, unevenness and rough areas.

In Alappuzha, the pavement condition warranted for almost a full depth reclamation as the damages extended up to the sub-base at many locations. The pavement was milled for a thickness of 160 mm and relaid using cold process.

A wearing course of 50 mm BC was given over recycled layer. The CIR involves reuse of existing pavement materials without application of heat. Foam bitumen was used as recycling agent in the cold milling equipment. Almost 15 per cent fresh aggregate was added along with cement.

The existing road would be cleaned by air compressor and the around 15 per cent aggregates and 1.5 per cent cement would be pre-spread on the asphalt road. The road would be rehabilitated by in-situ pulverising (milling) the top 160 mm of the existing pavement. At the time of pulverizing, the pre-spread aggregates, cement and hot bitumen is injected into milled surface. The recycled mix is then compacted and graded to profile using roller and grader and eventually sealed by BC.

Bank of Baroda moves NCLT to recover money from Binani
Bank of Baroda has filed a petition against Binani Cement Ltd with the National Company Law Tribunal’s (NCLT) Kolkata bench, seeking to recover Rs 97 crore in an outstanding loan under the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code after the firm failed to come up with a restructuring plan to clear its dues.

Lawyers for Binani Cement, a privately held firm of the Braj Binani Group, claimed that the application from Bank of Baroda had several technical flaws, and that its claim was minuscule compared with the total value of the group’s assets, which, according to its lawyers, is Rs 14,000 crore.

Binani Cement, which is a unit of Binani Industries Ltd, had assets worth Rs 5,074 crore at the end of March, according to the holding firm’s auditor, MZSK & Associates. NCLT’s Kolkata bench reserved its order on whether or not it would admit the lender’s application under the new insolvency code. If the application is admitted, the company’s board will be superseded and an interim resolution professional appointed to take control of its assets and operations. Bank of Baroda wants management consulting firm Deloitte to be appointed as interim resolution professional.

Pratap Chatterjee, counsel for Binani Cement, said Bank of Baroda was not the lead lender to the cement maker and that it had not taken the approval of the joint forum of lenders before moving NCLT. Citing Reserve Bank of India rules, Chatterjee said Bank of Baroda was required to write to the joint forum and wait for at least 30 days before unilaterally moving NCLT.

Chatterjee asked why Bank of Baroda was seeking the appointment of an administrator to recover a small loan of Rs 97 crore when the lead banker, Central Bank of India, was not seeking dispute resolution in this manner.

Gujarat HC notice to govt, Ambuja over mining safety
The Gujarat High Court has issued notice to concerned authorities and the cement factory in Gir-Somnath district over a PIL complaining that safety measures are not taken in mining activity and that the mining is illegally carried out in reserve forest areas.

Petitioner RTI Activist Sangathan has sought direction from the high court to direct the authorities to make Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd compel to erect fence around its mining areas. The petitioner has complained that at least 15 persons have lost their lives in Gir-Somnath district where the company is undertaking its mining operations. This has happened due to deliberate neglect on part of the company and the authorities that fencing is a must safety measure.

The petitioner alleged that the company also undertakes mining in private land, grazing land as well as in the forest areas also. Upon hearing the case, the HC issued notice to the Centre, the cement company, Director of Mining Safety, DySP of Gir-Somnath and the Jamwala Range Forest Officer of Gir sancturary. Further hearing is on September 6.

LafargeHolcim lowers growth forecast
Swiss-French cement group LafargeHolcim has lowered its forecast for growth in global cement markets this year after second quarter sales fell short of expectations. Based on developments in the first half 2017, it expected growth in its markets this year of between 1 and 3 per cent in 2017, the world’s largest cement company by sales said. That compared with the 2 to 4 per cent it had expected in May.

However, Beat Hess, Chairman, said that the group still expected to meet its 2017 and 2018 targets, ‘with key countries such as the US, India, Nigeria and, notably this quarter, Mexico making significant contributions to earnings, more than offsetting headwinds in some of our markets.’

LafargeHolcim reported net sales had risen by 3.6 per cent to SFr 6.85 billion on a like-for-like basis in the three months to June. That compared with the almost SFr 7 billion expected on average by analysts. Adjusted pre-tax operating profits of SFr 1.74 billion were 10 per cent higher than a year earlier on a like-for-like basis – and slightly higher than expected by analysts.

LafargeHolcim was formed by the ?41 billion merger in 2015 of Lafarge of France and Holcim of Switzerland. Over the past year, the group has been dogged by a scandal over a plant it operated in Syria until September 2014. In April, Eric Olsen resigned as chief executive to help restore calm at the company – although the company said he was not involved in or aware of any wrongdoing.

Global pension funds keen on highway projects
International pension funds with an appetite for staying invested for several years are expected to be primary suitors for the highway contracts to be auctioned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Experts say the Government wants to generate cash to support its next tranche of investment in the highways sector. They are of the view that foreign pension funds would be keen to bid for such projects because they typically invest in those with a longer duration, unlike private companies, which look for quick results.

‘Since most of the construction-related risk is taken care of by the Government, the private sector would be interested in these contracts because the traffic is already established and the Government is hopeful of getting surplus cash post auctions,’said Adil Zaidi, partner-economic development and infrastructure advisory, EY. He said the Government should plan the highways and alignments it intended to auction.

Global pension funds might be attracted by the certainty of the return on investment, an analyst said. Last year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs authorised the NHAI to monetise 111 publicly-funded requiring reduced NHAI involvement in projects.

Further, the corpus generated from the proceeds of such project monetisation could be utilised by the Government to meet its requirements on development and O&M of highways in the country NH projects that were operational and were generating toll for at least two years after the Commercial Operations Date (COD) through the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model. Around 75 operational NH projects completed under public funding have been preliminarily identified for potential monetisation using the TOT model. This model would provide an operation and maintenance (O&M) framework, requiring the NHAI’s reduced involvement in projects after construction completion.

Further, the corpus generated from the proceeds of such project monetisation could be utilised by the government to meet its fund requirements regarding development and O&M of highways in the country. This could help the development and strengthening of highways in unviable geographies. The Government aims to cater for that category of investors which is averse to taking construction risks but is adequately equipped for making long-term investments in road infrastructure, e.g. institutional investors including pension and insurance funds, and sovereign funds. In the past Macquarie, Brookfield, Cube Highways, and other such global funds took equity in NH projects worth about 4,150 crore, from which private promoters had exited. The auction can also be seen as a move to allow the entry of sovereign funds from Abu Dhabi and Qatar into such projects.

Orient posts Rs 39 cr net profit
CK Birla group firm Orient Cement Ltd reported a net profit of Rs 38.92 crore in the first quarter ended on June 30, 2017. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 7.56 crore in the same period last fiscal, Orient Cement Ltd said.

Revenue from operations during the period under review was at Rs 656.73 crore as against Rs 505.21 crore in the year-ago period, up 30 per cent. During the quarter, the company signed definitive agreement for acquisition of 74 per cent shares of Bhilai Jaypee Cement from Jaiprakash Associates and its nominees for an enterprise value of Rs 1,450 crore.

The company also inked similar pact for the business transfer of Nigrie Cement Grinding unit of Jayprakash Power Ventures Ltd at an enterprise value Rs 496 crore.

Govt to assist Assam for repair of highways
The Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has announced a financial assistance of Rs 200 crore as the first installment for the immediate repairs of National Highways damaged due to heavy rains in Assam. The announcement was made after the Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called on Gadkari for a review of the situation in Assam where heavy rains have led to National Highways being damaged.

Meanwhile, an expert team of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials has been dispatched for on the spot assessment of the damage. If needed, further financial assistance will be provided based on the NHAI team’s report. Another Rs 400 crore has been sanctioned for dredging work in Brahmaputra river. The work will start from September using six dredgers. Dredging will increase the depth of the river and prevent it from flooding. A total of seven bridges are to be built on Brahmaputra river during the next five years for better road connectivity with the NE region. Work on two bridges is underway. DPR for three more bridges is to be prepared by the State Government.

Gadkari has also asked the State Government to submit the DPR for the proposed Bhramaputra National Highways to be built along the banks of the river at a cost of Rs 40,000 crore.

Govt may lease out infra projects to private operators: NITI CEO
The Government needs to exit infrastructure projects and even look at handing over jails, schools and colleges to the private sector as happens to be the case in countries like Canada and Australia, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said. At the same time, he was highly critical of India’s private sector, terming it as ‘most irrational’and ‘insensitive’. Kant said it messed up projects by aggressive bidding and creating current crisis in the public private partnership (PPP) model.

‘The Government has done a lot of big projects but the government is not good at operation and maintenance. Therefore, the government must start the process of reverse BOT (build, operate and transfer), must sell out projects and let the private sector handle it,’he said addressing India PPP Summit 2017, organised by industry body FICCI.

Citing the example of dirty bathrooms at airports, which fall under the Airport Authority of India, he said: ‘We must bring in the private sector. That is, the fastest way to bring in private sector and bring private sector money back in infrastructure. These projects are fully de-risked.’

Kant also said that there were huge opportunities for the private sector in India like station re-development projects, Port construction and Sagarmala projects. There is no shortage of money in the market and India can use the opportunity by de listing its projects, he said.

Dangote records sales volume rise across Africa
Dangote Cement, Africa’s largest cement producer, has announced its unaudited results for the six months ended June 30, 2017, posting a 12.6 percent increase in sales volume across Africa. Financials released indicated that the increase in sales volume showed a growing capture of Pan-African market as Dangote Cement continues to gain grounds.

Revenues from operations in Nigeria increased by 34.5 per cent while Pan-Africa revenue increased by 63.7 per cent mainly as a result of increased volumes and foreign exchange gains when converting the sales from country local currency into Naira. Analysis of the half year result revealed that sales volumes of African operations increased by 12.6 per cent to 4.7 million metric tonne with Sierra Leone making a 53 kt maiden contribution.

Record of sales from its operations scattered around the African continent revealed that a total of 1.1 million metric tonnes of cement was sold in Ethiopia, almost 0.7 million metric tonne sold in Senegal, 0.6 million metric tonne sold in Cameroon, and 0.5 million tonne in Ghana.

Also, 0.4 million metric tonnes of cement was sold in Tanzania and 0.3 million tonne in Zambia. Sales volumes from Nigerian operations fell from 8.8 mt to 6.9 mt, occasioned by the onset of rains which stalled many construction projects.

East proves best for Shree Cement
Shree Cement’s Street-beating Q1 performance was led by its cement business. Though the company’s power segment reported a loss at the operating level, cement was the show-stopper, enabling Shree Cement post an EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of Rs 680 crore, which was reasonably ahead of Bloomberg consensus estimates of Rs 646 crore. A better-than-expected recovery in cement realisations, led by price hikes since the start of April, helped the company beat cost pressures too.

Birla to invest Rs 2.4k cr in new cement plant Birla Corporation Limited, the MP Birla Group flagship company, would invest around Rs 2,400 crore for its proposed new cement plant at Mukutbandh near Nagpur. ‘We are planning to invest around Rs 2,400 crore for 4 MTPA greenfield cement plant at Mukutbandh. We will now go to the board for approval’, Chairman of Birla Corporation Harsh V Lodha told at the company’s AGM. Lodha said after the completion of the new plant, the total cement production capacity of the company would touch 20 MTPA from the present 15.5 MTPA after acquisition of Reliance Cement. Funding of the project would be a mixture of debt and internal accruals, he said.

Birla Corporation had acquired the cement plants of Reliance at a consideration of Rs 4,800 crore. To fund this acquisition, Birla Corporation had taken a loan of Rs 1,000 crore on its books. Lodha said that the company was making some capital expenditure at the acquired plants to make it more efficient.

‘Reliance’s plants did not have a captive power plant. So we are in the process of setting up a waste heat recovery system at a cost Rs 125 crore’, he said. This would provide us power to meet a portion of the total demand, 45 MW, free of cost. ‘We are studying the feasibility of a captive thermal power plant there’, he said.

Lodha said as the demand for cement was rising in central India and no new capacity was coming up in the region, the company was well-poised to take advantage of this. On GST, he said it would not have any major impact.

Concrete

PROMECON introduces infrared-based tertiary air measurement system for cement kilns

Published

3 days ago

May 20, 2026

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The new solution promisescontinuous, real-time tertiary air flow measurement in cement plant operations.

PROMECON GmbH has launched the McON IR Compact, an infrared-based measuring system designed to deliver continuous, real-time tertiary air flow measurement in cement plant operations. The system addresses the longstanding process control challenge of accurate tertiary air monitoring under extreme kiln conditions. It uses patented infrared time-of-flight measurement technology that operates without calibration or maintenance intervention.

Precise tertiary air measurement is a critical requirement for stable rotary kiln operation. The McON IR Compact is engineered to function reliably at temperatures up to 1,200°C and in the presence of abrasive clinker dust. Its vector-based digital measurement architecture ensures that readings remain unaffected by swirl, dust deposits or drift. Due to these conditions conventional measurement systems in pyroprocess environments are often compromised.

The system is fully non-intrusive and requires no K-factors, recalibration or periodic readjustment, enabling years of uninterrupted operation. This design directly supports plant availability and reduces the maintenance overhead typically associated with process instrumentation in high-temperature zones.

PROMECON has deployed the McON IR Compact at multiple cement facilities, including Warta Cement in Poland. Plant operators report that the system has aided in identifying blockages, optimising purging cycles for gas burners, and supplying accurate flow data for AI-based process optimisation programmes. The practical outcomes include more stable kiln operation, improved process control, and earlier detection of process disturbances.

On the energy side, real-time tertiary air data enables reduction in induced draft fan load and helps flatten process oscillations across the pyroprocess. This translates to lower fuel and energy consumption, fewer unplanned shutdowns, and a measurable reduction in NOx peaks. This directly reflects on the downstream cost implications for plants operating SCR or SNCR systems for emissions compliance.

Concrete

Filtration Technology is Critical for Efficient Logistics

Published

1 week ago

May 15, 2026

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Niranjan Kirloskar, MD, Fleetguard Filters, makes the case that filtration technology, which has been long treated as a routine consumable, is in fact a strategic performance enabler across every stage of cement production and logistics.

India’s cement industry forms the core for infrastructure growth of the country. With an expected compound annual growth rate of six to eight per cent, India has secured its position as the second-largest cement producer globally. This growth is a result of the increasing demand across, resulting in capacity expansion. Consequently, cement manufacturers are now also focusing on running the factories as efficiently as possible to stay competitive and profitable.
While a large portion of focus still remains on production technologies and capacity utilisation, the hidden factor in profitability is the efficiency of cement logistics. The logistics alone account for nearly 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the total cost of cement, making efficiency in this segment a key lever for profitability and reliability.
In the midst of this complex and high-intensity ecosystem, filtration often remains one of the most underappreciated yet essential enablers of performance.

A demanding operational landscape
Cement production and logistics inherently operate in some of the harshest industrial environments. With processes such as quarrying, crushing, grinding, clinker production, and bulk material handling expose the machinery to constant high temperatures, heavy loads, and dust, often the silent destructive force for engines.
The ecosystem is abrasive, and often one with a high contamination index. These challenging conditions demand equipment such as the excavators, crushers, compressors, and transport vehicles to perform and perform efficiently. The continuous exposure to contamination across every aspect like air, fuel, lubrication, and even hydraulic systems causes long-term damage. Studies have also shown that 70 to 80 per cent of hydraulic system failures are directly linked to contamination, while primary cause of engine wear is inadequate air filtration.
For engines as heavy as these, even a minor contaminant has a cascading effect; reducing efficiency, performance and culminating to unplanned downtime. Particles as small as 5 to 10 microns, far smaller than a human hair (~70 microns), can cause significant damage to critical engine components. In an industry where margins are closely linked to operational efficiency, such disruptions can significantly affect both cost structures and delivery timelines.

Dust management: A persistent challenge
Dust is a natural by-product in cement operations. From drilling and blasting in the quarries to packing in plants, this fine particulate matter does occupy a large space in operations. Dust concentration levels in quarry and crushing zones often create extremely high particulate exposure for equipment. These fine particles, when enter the engines and critical systems, accelerates the wear and tear of the component, affecting directly the operational efficiency. Over time every block fall; engine performance declines, fuel consumption rises, and maintenance cycles shorten. In this case, effective air filtration is the natural first line of defence. Advanced filtration systems are designed to capture high volumes of particulate matter while maintaining consistent airflow, ensuring that engines and equipment operate under optimal conditions.
In high-dust applications, as in cement production, even the filtration systems are expected to sustain performance over extended periods without the need of frequent replacement. This becomes crucial in remote quarry locations where access to frequent maintenance may be limited.

Fluid cleanliness and system integrity
Beyond air filtration, fluid systems also play a crucial role for equipment reliability in cement operations. Fuel systems are required to remain free from contaminants for efficient working of combustion and injection protection. Additionally, lubrication systems also need to maintain the oil purity to reduce friction and prevent any premature wear of moving parts. The hydraulic systems, which are key to several heavy equipment operations, are especially sensitive to contamination.
If fine particles or water enters these systems, it can lead to reduced efficiency, erratic performance, and eventual failure of the system. Modern filtration systems are designed with high-efficiency media capable of removing extremely fine contaminants, with advanced fuel and oil filtration solutions filtering particles as small as two to five microns. Multi-stage filtration systems further ensure that fluid performance is maintained even under challenging operating conditions.
Another critical aspect of fuel systems is water separation. Removing moisture helps prevent corrosion, improves combustion efficiency and enhances overall engine reliability. Modern water separation technologies can achieve over 95 per cent efficiency in removing water from fuel systems.

Ensuring reliability across the value chain
Filtration plays a critical role across every stage of cement logistics:
• Quarry operations: Equipment operates in highly abrasive environments, requiring strong protection against dust ingress and hydraulic contamination.
• Processing units: Crushers, kilns, and grinding mills depend on clean lubrication and cooling systems to sustain continuous operations.
• Material handling systems: Pneumatic and mechanical systems rely on clean air and fluid systems for efficiency and reliability.
• Transportation networks: Bulk carriers and trucks must maintain engine health and fuel efficiency to ensure timely deliveries.
Across these operations, filtration plays a vital role; as it supports consistent equipment performance while reducing the risk of unexpected failures.
Effective filtration solutions can reduce unscheduled equipment failures by 30 to 50 per cent across heavy-duty operations.

Uptime as a strategic imperative
In cement manufacturing, uptime is currency. Downtime not only delays the production, but it also greatly impacts the supply commitments and logistics planning. With the right filtration systems, contaminants are kept at bay from entering the
critical systems, and they also significantly extend the service intervals.
Optimised filtration can extend service intervals by 20 to 40 per cent, reducing maintenance frequency while maintaining consistent performance across demanding operating conditions. Filtration systems designed for heavy-duty applications sustain efficiency throughout their lifecycle, ensuring reliable protection with minimal interruptions. This leads to improved equipment availability, lower maintenance costs, and more predictable operations, with well-maintained systems capable of achieving uptime levels of over 90 to 95 per cent in challenging cement environments.

Supporting emission and sustainability goals
With the rising environmental awareness, the cement industry too is aligning with the stricter norms and sustainability targets. In this scenario, the operational efficiency is directly linked to emission control.

Air and fuel systems that are clean enable
much more efficient combustion. They also reduce emissions from both the stationary equipment and transport fleets. Similarly, with a well-maintained fluid cleanliness, emission systems function better. Poor combustion due to contamination can increase emissions by 5 to 10 per cent, making clean systems critical for compliance.
Additionally, efficient and longer lasting filtration systems significantly reduce any waste generation and contribute to increased sustainable maintenance practices. Extended-life filtration solutions can reduce filter disposal and maintenance waste by 15 to 20 per cent. Smart and efficient filtration in this case plays an important role in meeting the both regulatory and environmental objectives within the industry.

Advancements in filtration technology
Over the years, there has been a significant evolution in the filtration technology to meet the modern industrial applications.
Key developments include:
• High-efficiency filtration media capable of capturing very fine particles without restricting flow
• Compact and integrated designs that combine multiple filtration functions
• Extended service life solutions that reduce replacement frequency and maintenance downtime
• Application-specific engineering tailored to different stages of cement operations
Modern multi-layer filtration media can improve dust-holding capacity by up to two to three times compared to conventional systems, while maintaining consistent performance. These advancements have transformed filtration from a basic maintenance component into a critical performance system.

Adapting to diverse operating conditions
The cement industry of India operates across diverse geographies. Spanning across regions with arid regions with higher dust levels, to the coastal areas with higher humidity, challenges of each region pose different threats to the engines. Modern filtration systems are thus tailored to address these unique challenges of each region.
Indian operating environments often range from 0°C to over 50°C, with some of the highest dust loads globally in mining zones.
Additionally, filtration technology can also be customised to variations which then align the system design with factors like dust load, temperature, and equipment usage patterns. Equipment utilisation levels in India are typically higher than global averages, making robust filtration even more critical. This approach ensures optimal performance and durability across different operational contexts.

Impact on total cost of ownership
Filtration has a direct and measurable impact on the total cost of ownership of equipment.
Effective filtration leads to:
• Lower wear and tear on critical components
• Reduced maintenance and repair costs
• Improved fuel efficiency
• Extended equipment life
• Higher operational uptime
Effective filtration can extend engine life by 20 to 30 per cent and reduce overall maintenance costs by 15 to 25 per cent over the equipment lifecycle. These benefits collectively enhance productivity and reduce lifecycle costs. Conversely, inadequate filtration can result in frequent breakdowns, increased maintenance expenditure, and reduced asset utilisation.

Building a more efficient cement ecosystem
With the rising demand across various sectors, the cement industry is expected to expand at an unprecedented rate. This growth is forcing the production to move towards a more efficient and resilient system of operations. This requires attention not only to production technologies but also to the supporting systems that enable consistent performance. Filtration must be viewed as a strategic investment rather than a routine consumable. By ensuring the cleanliness of air and fluids across systems, it supports reliability, efficiency, and sustainability.

The road ahead
The future of cement logistics will be shaped by increasing mechanisation, digital monitoring, and stricter environmental standards. The industry is also witnessing a shift towards predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, where filtration performance is increasingly integrated with real-time equipment diagnostics.
In this evolving landscape, the role of filtration will become even more critical. As equipment becomes more advanced and operating conditions more demanding, the need for precise contamination control will continue to grow. From quarry to construction site, filtration technology underpins the performance of every critical system. It enables equipment to operate efficiently, reduces operational risks, and supports the industry’s broader goals of growth and sustainability. In many ways, it is the unseen force that keeps the cement ecosystem moving, quietly ensuring that every link in the value chain performs as expected.

About the author
Niranjan Kirloskar, Managing Director, Fleetguard Filters, is focused on driving innovation, operational excellence, and long-term business growth through strategic and people-centric leadership. With a strong foundation in ethics and forward-thinking decision-making, he champions a culture of collaboration, accountability, and technological advancement.

Concrete

Cement’s Next Fuel Shift

Published

1 week ago

May 15, 2026

admin

Jignesh Kindaria highlights how Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) is emerging as a critical lever for cost savings, decarbonisation and competitive advantage in the cement industry.

India is simultaneously grappling with two crises: a mounting waste emergency and an urgent need to decarbonise its most carbon-intensive industries. The cement sector, the second-largest in the world and the backbone of the nation’s infrastructure ambitions, sits at the centre of both. It consumes enormous quantities of fossil fuel, and it has the technical capacity to consume something else entirely: the waste our cities cannot get rid of.
According to CPCB and NITI Aayog projections, India generates approximately 62.4 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with that figure expected to reach 165 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this waste is energy-rich and non-recyclable. At the same time, cement kilns operate at material temperatures of approximately 1,450 degrees Celsius, with gas temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees. This high-temperature environment is ideal for co-processing, ensuring the complete thermal destruction of organic compounds without generating toxic residues. The physics are in our favour. The infrastructure is not.
Pre-processing is not the support act for co-processing. It is the main event. Get the particle size wrong, get the moisture wrong, get the calorific value wrong and your kiln thermal stability will suffer the consequences.

The regulatory push is real
The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 mandate that cement plants progressively replace solid fossil fuels with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), starting at a 5 per cent baseline and scaling to 15 per cent within six years. NITI Aayog’s 2026 Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation targets 20 to 25 per cent Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) by 2030. Beyond compliance, every tonne of coal replaced by RDF generates measurable carbon reductions which is monetisable under India’s emerging Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). TSR is no longer a sustainability metric. It is a financial lever.
Yet our own field assessments across multiple Indian cement plants reveal a sobering reality: the primary barrier to scaling AFR adoption is not waste availability. It is the fragmented and under-engineered pre-processing ecosystem that sits between the waste and the kiln.

Why Indian waste is a different engineering problem
Indian municipal solid waste is not the material that imported shredding equipment was designed for. Our waste streams frequently exceed 40 per cent to 50 per cent moisture content, particularly during monsoon cycles, saturated with abrasive inerts including sand, glass, and stone. Plants relying on imported OEM equipment face months of downtime awaiting proprietary spare parts. Machines built for segregated, low-moisture waste fail quickly and disrupt the entire pre-processing operation in Indian conditions.
The two most common failures we observe are what I call the biting teeth problem and the chewing teeth problem. Plants relying solely on a primary shredder reduce bulk waste to large fractions, but the output remains too coarse for stable kiln combustion. Others attempt to use a secondary shredder as a standalone unit without a primary stage to pre-size the feed, leading to catastrophic mechanical failure. When both stages are present but mismatched in throughput capacity, the system becomes a bottleneck. Achieving the 40 to 70 tonnes per hour required for meaningful coal displacement demands a precisely coordinated two-stage process.

Engineering a made-in-India answer
At Fornnax, our response to these challenges is grounded in one principle: Indian waste demands Indian engineering. Our systems are built around feedstock homogeneity, the holy grail of kiln stability. Consistent particle size and predictable calorific value are the foundation of stable kiln combustion. Without them, no TSR target is achievable at scale.
Our SR-MAX2500 Dual Shaft Primary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive) processes raw, baled, or loosely mixed MSW, C&I waste, bulky waste, and plastics, reducing them to approximately 150 mm fractions at throughputs of up to 40 tonnes per hour. The R-MAX 3300 Single Shaft Secondary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive), introduced in 2025, takes that primary output and produces RDF fractions in the 30 to 80 mm range at up to 30 tonnes per hour, specifically optimised for consistent kiln feeding. We have also introduced electric drive configurations under the SR-100 HD series, with capacities between 5 and 40 tonnes per hour, already operational at a leading Indian waste-processing facility.
Looking ahead, Fornnax is expanding its portfolio with the upcoming SR-MAX3600 Hydraulic Drive primary shredder at up to 70 tonnes per hour and the R-MAX2100 Hydraulic drive secondary shredder at up to 20 tonnes per hour, designed specifically for the large-scale throughput that higher TSR ambitions require.

The investment case is now
The 2070 Net-Zero target is not a distant goal for India’s cement sector. It starts today, with decisions being made on the plant floor.
The SWM Rules 2026 are already in effect, requiring cement plants to replace coal with RDF. Carbon credit markets are opening up, and coal prices are not going to get cheaper. Every tonne of coal a cement plant replaces with waste-derived fuel saves money on one side and generates carbon credit revenue on the other. Pre-processing infrastructure is no longer just a compliance requirement. It is a business investment with a measurable return.
The good news is that nothing is missing. The technology works. The waste is available in every Indian city. The government has provided the policy direction. The only thing standing between where the industry is today and where it needs to be is the commitment to build the right infrastructure.
The cement companies that move now will not just meet the regulations. They will be ahead of every competitor that waits.

About the author
Jignesh Kundaria is the Director and CEO of Fornnax Technology. Over an experience spanning more than two decades in the recycling industry, he has established himself as one of India’s foremost voices on waste-to-fuel technology and alternative fuel infrastructure.