Economy & Market

RMC is certainly an important distribution element

Published

7 years ago

January 3, 2019

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Rajnish Kapur, Business Head-Grey Cement, JK Cement, is of the opinion that unless there is an economy of scale, RMC- as a channel of distribution-will not be successful in India.

Tell us about the various experiments and innovations being tried out by cement players to make the entire distribution channel an exciting proposition?
At present, we are in the digital age and there is a lot of technology intervention happening in various aspects of our life. On the supply chain management front, we have witnessed how companies like Amazon have changed the supply management scenario completely.

In commodities business like cement there is an increasing need to find the right carrier need to the right location. So basically the whole thing is revolving around asset utilisation and technology. Cement companies, to utilise their assets efficiently have now installed GPS systems. The GPS system not only gives a carrier direction but anticipate the exact time of delivery. Since cement is a vital commodity, it also helps the companies to keep a track on the fleet on a real-time basis. So innovations currently in the logistics sector or commodities business are revolving around integrating technology and integrating data knowledge that is coming in terms of freight availability, in terms of finding out integration possibilities and to say in short to be able to improve the total truck turnaround time or the asset utilisation time of the vehicle.

How the company is developing and implementing the right supply chain management strategies which will lead to an increase in productivity?
The logistics cost in any industry, specifically in the cement industry is a matter of concern. Logistic cost forms almost one-fourth of the total cost. And, if a cement company engaged in export, it (cost) is even more. So it is extremely important to implement our strategies to curb the cost in a most efficient manner. Logistics does not only remains to be mere delivering your cement products at the right place, but it also means ensuring the customer a timely delivery.

If a cement manufacturer able to supply its cement product at the right place at the right time and in the right cost to the customer then you have an edge over your competitor. Increasingly all cement companies are seriously thinking about innovation. So productivity should not have situations where you are not able to deliver your product because you do not have pay loaders getting ready to carry your stuff and waiting time for loading and unloading is high. So any cement bag does not reach its destination is a sale lost. It is efficiency as well as productivity.

Considering the road and rail transportation is on a higher side, then why industry is not exploring waterways as a cost-effective mode of transportation?
I completely agree with your observation. If the cement players transport through waterways that would be most economical and most environmental friendly way of transporting, not only cement but also getting your inbound material like coal, fly ash, gypsum etc.

Why I favouring water transportation is mainly because, in my previous stint as a Managing Director of Holcim (Bangladesh), our entire logistic operation was based on waterways.

We were importing clinkers, fly ash, gypsum, slag, etc. via waterways. In fact, every cement plant in Bangladesh is located on the river-side, and equipped with jetty for unloading materials.

In India, with a vast waterways network and government’s emphasis on Sagarmala projects, which is a port-led programme, in coming days, waterways will be a major mode of transport.

In India, success will depend on having complete integration of road, rail and waterways. In fact, in India, some of the companies have already started utilising waterways. But this is at a very initial stage.

Can you tell us about various distribution channels of cement industry? And as a company how do you incentivise these channels?
The best supply distribution channel would be connecting directly with the non-trade consumers. That of course is happening in India. This part of the business contributes a significant amount to the company’s coffer. In addition, there is a need to have depots, which can be used as bulk breaking depots, which you carry to a long distance in bigger pay loaders which have higher capacity. This will bring down per tonne/kilometre cost. So these are some of the things which come to my mind. Digitisation is also going to come and play an important role. So companies are now trying to have a digital distribution channel where customer can book order and knows where your network is and stuff. But still these are early days of cement industry at this point of time.

RMC, as a medium of the distribution channel, is a successful example in western and European countries. Do you think the same can be replicated in India? What are the steps that need to be addressed to make it more successful?
As the density of construction starts increasing and as we start moving from bag to bulk, RMC will be a big success in India. As economy of scale increases, we shift from bag-based cement to bulk-based cement utilisation. However, this shift is possible only in the bigger cities where large number of infrastructure projects. To my surprise, while visiting Ahmedabad, it was brought to my notice the usage of bulk cement by contractors in individual house construction than bag-based consumption. But even today, India is mostly a bag-based cement economy. RMC is certainly an important distribution element.

– RAHUL KAMAT

Economy & Market

TSR Will Define Which Cement Companies Win India’s Net-Zero Race

Published

3 days ago

April 27, 2026

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Jignesh Kundaria, Director and CEO, Fornnax Technology

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.

Concrete

WCA Welcomes SiloConnect as associate corporate member

Published

3 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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The World Cement Association (WCA) has announced SiloConnect as its newest associate corporate member, expanding its network of technology providers supporting digitalisation in the cement industry. SiloConnect offers smart sensor technology that provides real-time visibility of cement inventory levels at customer silos, enabling producers to monitor stock remotely and plan deliveries more efficiently. The solution helps companies move from reactive to proactive logistics, improving delivery planning, operational efficiency and safety by reducing manual inspections. The technology is already used by major cement producers such as Holcim, Cemex and Heidelberg Materials and is deployed across more than 30 countries worldwide.

Concrete

TotalEnergies and Holcim Launch Floating Solar Plant in Belgium

Published

3 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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TotalEnergies and Holcim have commissioned a floating solar power plant in Obourg, Belgium, built on a rehabilitated former chalk quarry that has been converted into a lake. The project has a generation capacity of 31 MW and produces around 30 GWh of renewable electricity annually, which will be used to power Holcim’s nearby industrial operations. The project is currently the largest floating solar installation in Europe dedicated entirely to industrial self-consumption. To ensure minimal impact on the surrounding landscape, more than 700 metres of horizontal directional drilling were used to connect the solar installation to the electrical substation. The project reflects ongoing collaboration between the two companies to support industrial decarbonisation through renewable energy solutions and innovative infrastructure development.