Economy & Market

Manpower Development for Indian Cement Industry

Published

7 years ago

October 31, 2018

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Indian cement industry is among the best in the world when it comes to energy efficiency. However, specialised training is essential to face and overcome certain unique challenges of the Indian cement industry.

The Indian cement industry is poised for a big growth considering the various infrastructural developments planned by the Government of India and the demand for housing all over the country. The Government of India has planned to invest Rs 5.94 lakh crore in the infrastructural sector with an additional allocation of Rs 2.04 crore for smart cities in the Union Budget of 2017-18. GST, demonetisation and some other factors have affected the growth of the industry temporarily but things are expected to stabilise soon. The Central Government has an ambitious plan to provide housing for all citizens by 2022. Increased allocation to rural housing under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna-Gramin scheme and developing smart cities will boost demand. Additional efforts in development of ports under "Sagarmala" and nation-wide road network development under "Bharatmala" will give impetus to cement demand. Nine new airports are on the anvil.

From the chart (next page) it is pertinent that housing sector will play a major role in boosting growth of Indian cement industry. The consumption of cement in agricultural sector is negligible today but as announced in the union budget of 2017-18, this sector is being given due importance.This will contribute to a substantial demand for cement for building warehouses and other logistics in the rural sector. International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest update has forecasted a GDP growth of 7.4 per cent next year. If all goes well CLSA expects a volume growth in new home construction to a compounded annual growth rate to about 8 per cent over the next seven years. Cement is a cyclical commodity with good correlation with GDP. With the projected GDP growth of 7.5 to 8.0 per cent in the next few years, cement demand will also increase. The present installed capacity of cement manufacturing is around 435 MT/year. It is estimated that India would need 550 to 600 MT/ annum by 2025. This means an additional capacity of 100 to 150 MTs/ annum need to be installed by 2025. In spite of being the second largest cement producer in the world the per capita consumption in India is only 225 kg, which is much lower than the world average of 500 kg and far behind China where it is more than 1,000 kg. These figures indicate that India has a long way to go to be called a developed nation. However Indian economy is the fifth largest economy as of now and is expected to become third largest very soon. This gives the possibility of huge expansion of the Indian cement industry.

Future technical manpower requirement
Getting skilled manpower for the industry is a challenge. There is a big gap between availability and demand. With the anticipated addition of another 150 MT/annum by 2025, it is estimated that the cement industry will require around 66,000 skilled technical manpower for greenfield projects, brownfield expansion and captive power plant operations.

Need for specialised manpower
Indian cement industry is among the best in the world when it comes to energy efficiency. However specialised training is essential to face and overcome certain unique challenges of the Indian cement industry. The major ones are listed as follows:

Depletion of high-grade limestone. We need to add more capacity with marginal and sub marginal grades of limestone. Also depletion of good quality mineral gypsum and finding large volumes of alternative material is also concerning.
Non availability of good quality cheaper fuel. The plants have to balance their fuel cost without diluting product quality. A rapid stride has to be taken to use alternate fuels and raw materials (AFR). This requires specialised skills.
Further improvements in energy efficiency is necessary by installing WHR systems and retrofitting with energy efficient equipment.
Compliances with stricter environmental and safety norms.
Implementing innovative ideas and methods to keep production cost low in view of the ever increasing cost of inputs like raw materials, fuels, logistics, taxes, etc.

There is shortage of skilled manpower in the industry who can handle such burning issues. There is hue and cry in the country saying that people are not getting employment. On the other hand the manufacturers complain that they do not get the rightly skilled manpower. There is a serious gap between what is wanted and what is available. To address all these issues it is necessary to:

Design training programmes which are practical in nature and completely wedded to the requirement of the construction industry. In this respect, a close co-ordination of industry and academics is the need of the hour.
Enhance skills of the semi-skilled workers to enable them to do their jobs in a scientific manner for better quality and productivity
Make a pool of people ready for the future growth of the cement and construction industry

Initiatives taken by organisations
It is worthwhile to mention that the National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCCBM) has considerable contribution in this area. They are conducting various programmes to train fresh graduates. They are also regularly conducting short term, customised and contract programmes for improving skills of technical personnel of plants. Few universities and colleges have implemented diploma courses in cement technology but are not doing that well perhaps because their courses are not designed as per industry needs and limitations of cement plant experience in their faculties.With the anticipated rapid growth of the industry all these efforts may not be sufficient.

Initiatives taken by AKS University
Keeping all these requirements in mind it is worthwhile to mention an innovative University called AKS University in Satna, Madhya Pradesh. This university had the foresight of this future demand of India and started conducting degree anddiploma courses in cement technology from the year 2012 after getting UGC approval. The visionary of AKS University is Er Anant Kumar Soni who started this humble journey to impart quality education at affordable price to the rural masses. He sensed long back that being located in a cement hub, it will be a great service to the rural poor if they are trained to take up employment in cement plants in this limestone rich belt of Satna. He vowed to make education affordablewithout any capitation fees. His objective is to raise the level of rural education and bring it at par with urban levels and trainthe poor students for employment.

AKS University is spread over an area of more than 100 acres of land in the Satna town of Madhya Pradesh, adjacent to NH-7. It has developed 4.5 lakh sqft of lecture rooms, workshops, state of the art laboratories, agriculture research farms, incubation center etc. At present the AKS University is offering 52 courses under 12 faculties and more than 7,500 students are enrolled for the session 2017-18.

AKS University credentials Within a short duration of five years, AKS University has been awarded various credentials for its achievements, this are listed below.

Best University in IT infrastructure for the year 2018 awarded by ASSOCHAM.
Best Private Innovative University for the Year 2017.
Excellent Private University in rural sector awarded by ASSOCHAM in 2016
Excellent Private University in Rural sector for the year 2015, awarded by Dr. RS Katheriya, Hon?ble State Higher Education Minister, Ministry of HRD, Govt of India.
Excellent Private University in Madhya Pradesh by CMAI, Madhya Pradesh Technical Excellence Education Summit Bhopal in the year 2014.
Indo Nepal Sadbhavna award in the year 2014 from Govt of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Best University in IT infrastructure for the year 2014 by CCI Technology Excellency Award, Bhopal.

AKS University, in addition to cement technology, offers various Diploma, B. Tech., M. Tech andPh. D programmes in most of the courses. While many private universities are reporting shortfall in the intake of students in the engineering streams, AKS University is experiencing higher intakes especially in the agriculture and mining departments. Mention must be made of the innovative approaches carried out in the mining department which is bringing laurels to the university. Students are sent to present technical papers in internationals seminars. The department organises various seminars in the country where well known persons from the Indian mining industry are felicitated and givenlife time achievement awards. This department has eight professors who are ex general managers from Coal India Limited.

Considerable efforts are taken to ensure good attendance among students as well as professors. The administration ensures that all courses are actually taken and completed in time inclusive of revision classes. Industry academic coordination and networking is given the topmost priority.

Why Cement Technology (CT) from AKS University?

It is the first university in the country offering both Diploma and B.Tech courses in cement technology recognised by MP Board of Technical Education and UGC respectively.
Being an autonomous institution, technical courses are designed and constantly upgraded keeping in view the latest technological developments in Indian cement industry. Frontier areas relevant to Indian cement industry like alternate fuels and raw materials (AFR), waste heat recovery systems (WHR), energy efficiency, composite and geo-polymeric cements, belitic cements, etc. A great thrust is given on concrete technology with emphasis on application aspects. Management aspects like marketing, operations management, safety and environment management etc. from an integral part of the course. Mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, mining, geology, chemical engineering aspects are covered extensively with examples and case studies from Indian cement industry.
Industrial training and doing project work on frontier areas which challenges the Indian cement Industry is compulsory for all students.
Experienced industry faculty is a special feature at AKS and so in CT Department.There is blend of 50 per cent full time professors from industry with more than 35-year experience and remaining 50 per cent comprising of seasoned academicians specialising in chemical, mining, electrical and instrumentation, mechanical engineering, geology etc.Most of them are from IITs, NITs, and other reputed universities.
State of the art infrastructure and laboratories for hands on training and research.
Group discussions, role plays, mock interview sessions, Saturday departmental seminars are regularly conducted to improve the personality aspects of students
Research opportunities including real-time industry projects.
With the approval of Board of Apprenticeship Training (BOAT) Mumbai, the B.Tech students undergo a Sandwich Apprenticeship (in plant training) for 150 days in VIII Semester.
Simulator based training at National Council for Cement and Building Materials(NCCBM), Ballabgarh, Haryana is compulsory in semester VI in B. Tech programme. These full time degree courses have a practical component of 40% and theoretical component of 60 per cent.
AKS University is connected with many cement plants through Cement Manufacturing Association of India (CMA)
AKS University is a "University with difference" where the courses are modified on a regular basis involving industry professionals. Management is deeply inclined to establish strong relationship with industry. Most of the senior staff in Engineering and Technology departments’ are stalwards in their own fields from institutions like ACC, NCCBM, Lafarge, Coal India, Indian Oil etc. Quite a few of them have foreign degrees and one professor in Cement Technology department is a Canadian national. This helps the students to network with professionals of industry right from early stages of their courses.
A good number of students have been placed and are workingwith Star Cement, Sanghi Cement, Amrit Cement, Ultratech Cement, Gorahi Cement(Nepal), Prism cement, KJS cement, etc.

Achievements of AKS University

1.First batch of B.Tech students passed out in 2015
2.More the 50per cent students placed in cement plants
3.Carrying out short term courses (three to six months) for enhancing skills of plant personnel (workers and staff) on cement technology. Completed two programmes for Prism Cement Ltd. Satna and further programmes are in offing.

Negotiation with UltraTech are on to train masons on a regular basis. These masons will be picked out by them.
4.Established a name in imparting high quality training programmes for techno-marketing professionals of cement industry. This is a well established popular training programme highly appreciated by industry.
Application engineering is an area that needs a lot of manpower. Now-a-days, this has emerged as a necessary activity of cement marketing. These engineers are responsible for technical marketing of cement and assist the customers throughout the construction process. They also handle quality complaints. TheAKS three-year diploma course, which is being renamed as diploma in cement and concrete technology, is perhaps the best fit degree for techno marketing personnel in rural areas as they know both sides of the game (cement and concrete ). They can do all the dirty work better as compared to a B.Tech/Diploma in civil engineering.

AKS University has conducted numerous short-term courses for techno marketing professionals for companies like UltraTech, KJS Cement, etc. with grand success. These are residential programmes with certification from Centre of Continuing Education, Department of Cement Technology, AKS University, Satna.

Training scheme
The department can train fresh personnel selected by cement manufacturers and make them industry ready either with the Diploma or B.Tech programme in cement technology which are on campus programmes. Short term customised courses are also feasible.New cement companies who have started their greenfield projects can send their entire team of fresh recruits to AKS so that they get professionally trained by the time the plant is ready for commissioning. Good hostel facilities are available in Satna town. Local people from surroundings of Cement plants located in rural areas have been found to be assets for the industry both in the past and present. These people show lot of dedication and loyalty compared to people from urban areas Moreover creating local employment is also compulsory as part of CSR schemes. AKS University has all the expertise to nurture these poor people from rural areas and make them industry ready.

Summary
With the expected spurt in demand for technical personnel in cement industry, which is imminent, it is worthwhile to have a serious thought on manpower development and skill enhancement of existing manpower. Actions need to be taken right now so that the industry is not starved of skilled personnel. It is worthwhile if cement manufacturers recruit cement technologists who are already trained by institutes like AKS University. Such trained personnel with degree or diploma in cement technology are industry ready and only need to be customised to the working of individual cement manufacturers who recruit them. This will reduce the gestation period to take up independent supervisory and other roles. There are very few institutions in India imparting quality cement technology programmes in India. AKS University, Satna is already in this field for past five years and has matured enough to be a partner to generate competent manpower for the Indian cement industry at affordable cost. Customised short-term courses are also feasible as per requirement of individual cement manufacturers.

About the authors:
Prof KN Bhattacharjee and Prof GC Mishra of Department of Cement Technology AKS University Satna. Prof KN Bhattacharjee is the corresponding author. He can be contacted on: Email: karuna.bhattacharjee3@gmail.com| Mob: 91-9340898824.

Economy & Market

Smart Pumping for Rock Blasting

Published

2 weeks ago

March 2, 2026

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SEEPEX introduces BN pumps with Smart Joint Access (SJA) to improve efficiency, reliability, and inspection speed in demanding rock blasting operations.
Designed for abrasive and chemical media, the solution supports precise dosing, reduced downtime, and enhanced operational safety.

SEEPEX has introduced BN pumps with Smart Joint Access (SJA), engineered for the reliable and precise transfer of abrasive, corrosive, and chemical media in mining and construction. Designed for rock blasting, the pump features a large inspection opening for quick joint checks, a compact footprint for mobile or skid-mounted installations, and flexible drive and material options for consistent performance and uptime.

“Operators can inspect joints quickly and rely on precise pumping of shear-sensitive and abrasive emulsions,” said Magalie Levray, Global Business Development Manager Mining at SEEPEX. “This is particularly critical in rock blasting, where every borehole counts for productivity.” Industry Context

Rock blasting is essential for extracting hard rock and shaping safe excavation profiles in mining and construction. Accurate and consistent loading of explosive emulsions ensures controlled fragmentation, protects personnel, and maximizes productivity. Even minor deviations in pumping can cause delays or reduce product quality. BN pumps with SJA support routine maintenance and pre-operation checks by allowing fast verification of joint integrity, enabling more efficient operations.

Always Inspection Ready

Smart Joint Access is designed for inspection-friendly operations. The large inspection opening in the suction housing provides direct access to both joints, enabling rapid pre-operation checks while maintaining high operational reliability. Technicians can assess joint condition quickly, supporting continuous, reliable operation.

Key Features

Compact Footprint: Fits truck-mounted mobile units, skid-mounted systems, and factory installations.
Flexible Drive Options: Compact hydraulic drive or electric drive configurations.
Hydraulic Efficiency: Low-displacement design reduces oil requirements and supports low total cost of ownership.
Equal Wall Stator Design: Ensures high-pressure performance in a compact footprint.
Material Flexibility: Stainless steel or steel housings, chrome-plated rotors, and stators in NBR, EPDM, or FKM.

Operators benefit from shorter inspection cycles, reliable dosing, seamless integration, and fast delivery through framework agreements, helping to maintain uptime in critical rock blasting processes.

Applications – Optimized for Rock Blasting

BN pumps with SJA are designed for mining, tunneling, quarrying, civil works, dam construction, and other sectors requiring precise handling of abrasive or chemical media. They provide robust performance while enabling fast, reliable inspection and maintenance.With SJA, operators can quickly access both joints without disassembly, ensuring emulsions are transferred accurately and consistently. This reduces downtime, preserves product integrity, and supports uniform dosing across multiple bore holes.

With the Smart Joint Access inspection opening, operators can quickly access and assess the condition of both joints without disassembly, enabling immediate verification of pump readiness prior to blast hole loading. This allows operators to confirm that emulsions are transferred accurately and consistently, protecting personnel, minimizing product degradation, and maintaining uniform dosing across multiple bore holes.

The combination of equal wall stator design, compact integration, flexible drives, and progressive cavity pump technology ensures continuous, reliable operation even in space-limited, high-pressure environments.

From Inspection to Operation

A leading explosives provider implemented BN pumps with SJA in open pit and underground operations. By replacing legacy pumps, inspection cycles were significantly shortened, allowing crews to complete pre-operation checks and return mobile units to productive work faster. Direct joint access through SJA enabled immediate verification, consistent emulsion dosing, and reduced downtime caused by joint-related deviations.

“The inspection opening gives immediate confidence that each joint is secure before proceeding to bore holes,” said a site technician. “It allows us to act quickly, keeping blasting schedules on track.”

Framework agreements ensured rapid pump supply and minimal downtime, supporting multi-site operations across continents

Concrete

Digital process control is transforming grinding

Published

3 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

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Satish Maheshwari, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Shree Cement, delves into how digital intelligence is transforming cement grinding into a predictive, stable, and energy-efficient operation.

Grinding sits at the heart of cement manufacturing, accounting for the largest share of electrical energy consumption. In this interview, Satish Maheshwari, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Shree Cement, explains how advanced grinding technologies, data-driven optimisation and process intelligence are transforming mill performance, reducing power consumption and supporting the industry’s decarbonisation goals.

How has the grinding process evolved in Indian cement plants to meet rising efficiency and sustainability expectations?
Over the past decade, Indian cement plants have seen a clear evolution in grinding technology, moving from conventional open-circuit ball mills to high-efficiency closed-circuit systems, Roller Press–Ball Mill combinations and Vertical Roller Mills (VRMs). This shift has been supported by advances in separator design, improved wear-resistant materials, and the growing use of digital process automation. As a result, grinding units today operate as highly controlled manufacturing systems where real-time data, process intelligence and efficient separation work together to deliver stable and predictable performance.
From a sustainability perspective, these developments directly reduce specific power consumption, improve equipment reliability and lower the carbon footprint per tonne of cement produced.

How critical is grinding optimisation in reducing specific power consumption across ball mills and VRMs?
Grinding is the largest consumer of electrical energy in a cement plant, which makes optimisation one of the most effective levers for improving energy efficiency. In ball mill systems, optimisation through correct media selection, charge design, diaphragm configuration, ventilation management and separator tuning can typically deliver power savings of 5 per cent to 8 per cent. In VRMs, fine-tuning airflow balance, grinding pressure, nozzle ring settings, and circulating load can unlock energy reductions in the range of 8 per cent to 12 per cent. Across both systems, sustained operation under stable conditions is critical. Consistency in mill loading and operating parameters improves quality control, reduces wear, and enables long-term energy efficiency, making stability a key operational KPI.

What challenges arise in maintaining consistent cement quality when using alternative raw materials and blended compositions?
The increased use of alternative raw materials and supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) introduces variability in chemistry, moisture, hardness, and loss on ignition. This variability makes it more challenging to maintain consistent fineness, particle size distribution, throughput and downstream performance parameters such as setting time, strength development and workability.
As clinker substitution levels rise, grinding precision becomes increasingly important. Even small improvements in consistency enable higher SCM utilisation without compromising cement performance.
Addressing these challenges requires stronger feed homogenisation, real-time quality monitoring and dynamic adjustment of grinding parameters so that output quality remains stable despite changing input characteristics.

How is digital process control changing the way grinding performance is optimised?
Digital process control is transforming grinding from an operator-dependent activity into a predictive, model-driven operation. Technologies such as online particle size and residue analysers, AI-based optimisation platforms, digital twins for VRMs and Roller Press systems, and advanced process control solutions are redefining how performance is managed.
At the same time, workforce roles are evolving. Operators are increasingly focused on interpreting data trends through digital dashboards and responding proactively rather than relying on manual interventions. Together, these tools improve mill stability, enable faster response to disturbances, maintain consistent fineness, and reduce specific energy consumption while minimising manual effort.

How do you see grinding technologies supporting the industry’s low-clinker and decarbonisation goals?
Modern grinding technologies are central to the industry’s decarbonisation efforts. They enable higher incorporation of SCMs such as fly ash, slag, and limestone, improve particle fineness and reactivity, and reduce overall power consumption. Efficient grinding makes it possible to maintain consistent cement quality at lower clinker factors. Every improvement in energy intensity and particle engineering directly contributes to lower CO2 emissions.
As India moves toward low-carbon construction, precision grinding will remain a foundational capability for delivering sustainable, high-performance cement aligned with national and global climate objectives.

How much potential does grinding optimisation hold for immediate energy
and cost savings?
The potential for near-term savings is substantial. Without major capital investment, most plants can achieve 5 per cent to 15 per cent power reduction through measures such as improving separator efficiency, optimising ventilation, refining media grading, and fine-tuning operating parameters.
With continued capacity expansion across India, advanced optimisation tools will help ensure that productivity gains are not matched by proportional increases in energy demand. Given current power costs, this translates into direct and measurable financial benefits, making grinding optimisation one of the fastest-payback operational initiatives available to cement manufacturers today.

Concrete

Refractory demands in our kiln have changed

Published

3 weeks ago

February 20, 2026

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Radha Singh, Senior Manager (P&Q), Shree Digvijay Cement, points out why performance, predictability and life-cycle value now matter more than routine replacement in cement kilns.

As Indian cement plants push for higher throughput, increased alternative fuel usage and tighter shutdown cycles, refractory performance in kilns and pyro-processing systems is under growing pressure. In this interview, Radha Singh, Senior Manager (P&Q), Shree Digvijay Cement, shares how refractory demands have evolved on the ground and how smarter digital monitoring is improving kiln stability, uptime and clinker quality.

How have refractory demands changed in your kiln and pyro-processing line over the last five years?
Over the last five years, refractory demands in our kiln and pyro line have changed. Earlier, the focus was mostly on standard grades and routine shutdown-based replacement. But now, because of higher production loads, more alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) usage and greater temperature variation, the expectation from refractory has increased.
In our own case, the current kiln refractory has already completed around 1.5 years, which itself shows how much more we now rely on materials that can handle thermal shock, alkali attack and coating fluctuations. We have moved towards more stable, high-performance linings so that we don’t have to enter the kiln frequently for repairs.
Overall, the shift has been from just ‘installation and run’ to selecting refractories that give longer life, better coating behaviour and more predictable performance under tougher operating conditions.

What are the biggest refractory challenges in the preheater, calciner and cooler zones?
• Preheater: Coating instability, chloride/sulphur cycles and brick erosion.
• Calciner: AFR firing, thermal shock and alkali infiltration.
• Cooler: Severe abrasion, red-river formation and mechanical stress on linings.
Overall, the biggest challenge is maintaining lining stability under highly variable operating conditions.

How do you evaluate and select refractory partners for long-term performance?
In real plant conditions, we don’t select a refractory partner just by looking at price. First, we see their past performance in similar kilns and whether their material has actually survived our operating conditions. We also check how strong their technical support is during shutdowns, because installation quality matters as much as the material itself.
Another key point is how quickly they respond during breakdowns or hot spots. A good partner should be available on short notice. We also look at their failure analysis capability, whether they can explain why a lining failed and suggest improvements.
On top of this, we review the life they delivered in the last few campaigns, their supply reliability and their willingness to offer plant-specific custom solutions instead of generic grades. Only a partner who supports us throughout the life cycle, which includes selection, installation, monitoring and post-failure analysis, fits our long-term requirement.

Can you share a recent example where better refractory selection improved uptime or clinker quality?
Recently, we upgraded to a high-abrasion basic brick at the kiln outlet. Earlier we had frequent chipping and coating loss. With the new lining, thermal stability improved and the coating became much more stable. As a result, our shutdown interval increased and clinker quality remained more consistent. It had a direct impact on our uptime.

How is increased AFR use affecting refractory behaviour?
Increased AFR use is definitely putting more stress on the refractory. The biggest issue we see daily is the rise in chlorine, alkalis and volatiles, which directly attack the lining, especially in the calciner and kiln inlet. AFR firing is also not as stable as conventional fuel, so we face frequent temperature fluctuations, which cause more thermal shock and small cracks in the lining.
Another real problem is coating instability. Some days the coating builds too fast, other days it suddenly drops, and both conditions impact refractory life. We also notice more dust circulation and buildup inside the calciner whenever the AFR mix changes, which again increases erosion.
Because of these practical issues, we have started relying more on alkali-resistant, low-porosity and better thermal shock–resistant materials to handle the additional stress coming from AFR.

What role does digital monitoring or thermal profiling play in your refractory strategy?
Digital tools like kiln shell scanners, IR imaging and thermal profiling help us detect weakening areas much earlier. This reduces unplanned shutdowns, helps identify hotspots accurately and allows us to replace only the critical sections. Overall, our maintenance has shifted from reactive to predictive, improving lining life significantly.

How do you balance cost, durability and installation speed during refractory shutdowns?
We focus on three points:
• Material quality that suits our thermal profile and chemistry.
• Installation speed, in fast turnarounds, we prefer monolithic.
• Life-cycle cost—the cheapest material is not the most economical. We look at durability, future downtime and total cost of ownership.
This balance ensures reliable performance without unnecessary expenditure.

What refractory or pyro-processing innovations could transform Indian cement operations?
Some promising developments include:
• High-performance, low-porosity and nano-bonded refractories
• Precast modular linings to drastically reduce shutdown time
• AI-driven kiln thermal analytics
• Advanced coating management solutions
• More AFR-compatible refractory mixes

These innovations can significantly improve kiln stability, efficiency and maintenance planning across the industry.