The Code on Wages, 2019 has defined ??ages??in great detail. The same definition is quoted in the subsequent three labour codes passed by Parliament in 2020. According to Section 2 (y) of the code, ??ages” mean the entire remuneration paid to an employee while in employment and include: (i) basic pay; (ii) dearness allowance; and (iii) retaining allowance, if any.
However, ??ages??do not include:
(a) any bonus payable under any law for the time being in force, which does not form part of the remuneration payable under the terms of employment;
(b) the value of any house-accommodation, or of the supply of light, water, medical attendance or other amenity or of any service excluded from the computation of wages by a general or special order of the appropriate government;
(c) any contribution paid by the employer to any pension or provident fund, and the interest which may have accrued thereon;
(d) any conveyance allowance or the value of any travelling concession;
(e) any sum paid to the employed person to defray special expenses entailed on him by the nature of his employment;
(f) house rent allowance;
(g) remuneration payable under any award or settlement between the parties or order of a court or tribunal;
(h) any overtime allowance;
(i) any commission payable to the employee;
(j) any gratuity payable on the termination of employment;
(k) any retrenchment compensation or other retirement benefit payable to the employee or any ex-gratia payment made to him on the termination of employment.
However again, for calculating the ??ages??under this clause, if payments made by the employer to the employee under clauses (a) to (i) exceed one-half, or such other per cent as may be notified by the central government, of all the remuneration calculated under this clause, the amount which exceeds such one-half, or the per cent so notified, shall be deemed as remuneration and shall accordingly be added to the ??ages??under this clause.
This clause defines ??ages??as consisting of the basic pay, the dearness allowance and the retaining allowance if any. However, if these three components were to add up to less than 50 per cent of the total defined remuneration, then the 50 per cent figure arrived at will be regarded as ??ages??
Following the enactment of the Code on Wages, 2019, four existing Acts stand repealed. The concerned acts are: The Payment of Wages Act, 1936, The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.
The Code on Wages, 2019 is applicable to all the employees of every establishment. This means the code applies not only to workers but to the supervisors and executives as well. The new definition of ??ages??will ensure that the minimum wages as prescribed by the the Government from time to time would strictly be complied with, while eliminating the scope for reducing the contribution to terminal benefits, because of the bifurcation method applied by employers in the past. Admittedly, once the code becomes operational, the new definition of ??ages??is likely to add to the financial burdens of several companies.
Evolution of wage structure with allowances
When I commenced my corporate career in 1970 as an Assistant Engineer with Mukand Iron & Steel Works (now called Mukand), there was nothing like the concept of cost to company (CTC). The appointment letter given to me merely carried details of the monthly basic pay, the Grade in which I was placed, and the annual increment applicable to that grade. There was also mention about the monthly dearness allowance that I would receive based on the consumer price index. In my first payslip, the total of these two items ??basic pay and dearness allowance ??amounted to a princely sum of Rs 1,050 per month.
No other allowances were payable to me, either monthly or annually, during the first two years of my service, except the annual bonus declared by the company before Diwali based on the earnings for the previous year. This pattern of monthly wages continued largely in the same manner as I moved up the organisational hierarchy by way of promotion, as well as movement from one organisation to another in my corporate career. Just to reiterate, the basic pay and for certain years the Dearness Allowance continued to be the most important components of my monthly remuneration.
In India, the concept of CTC had its origins in the information technology (IT) companies from around mid-1980??. Alongside, consulting firms began to undertake surveys of executive remuneration for providing a comparative picture of a company?? standing in respect of its compensation levels and for determination of industry wise benchmarks. Some select companies formed remuneration clubs for similar purposes, primarily for exchange of salary details and compensation practices. These new developments necessitated having to assign cash value to perquisites extended to executives especially in multinational companies. Later, when the income tax rates were rationalised and the tax-free perquisites came up for scrutiny, companies began to treat all items of compensation as taxable. This automatically led to the legitimisation of the concept of CTC.
Simultaneously, there were other developments. The practice of including dearness allowance in the monthly salary of executives was abandoned by most companies. Also, in negotiations of long-term wage settlements with trade unions, organisations tried to introduce new allowances. This was done mainly to limit the rise in basic pay and monthly dearness allowance, as these two items had an impact on several other payments such as overtime rate, annual bonus, leave encashment, contribution to provident fund and gratuity.
In enterprises which have field force for supporting the sales and marketing effort, there has been a practice of negotiated tax-free daily allowance for local and out station working of the field force as the job entails travel, boarding and at times lodging expense. Here the tax-free daily allowance is normally paid without any supporting vouchers and at times higher than the normal expense. The eligible tax-free daily allowance is quite often part of a negotiated long-term wage settlement.
CTC
CTC is the nomenclature presently used by Employers while making an offer of employment to show case total remuneration. The final figure shared can be misleading as in some cases it includes items such as performance bonus payable at its maximum (for which amount limited number of persons qualify), monetary value of Subsidised snacks and meals, and gratuity (which again is payable only when an employee completes a minimum of five years of service). Many new employees get at first impressed with the CTC figures shown on the paper, but later feel disappointed when they realise that the monthly take home pay is very much lower, and not one twelfth of the CTC amount, as they had assumed that it would be.
Some companies offer an ? la carte system where employees can opt for allowances of their choice within the negotiated CTC limits. This is done for two purposes: 1) cash now as against deferred payment and 2) reduction of tax liability.
The CTC represents a company?? total annual expenditure on an employee. CTC computation includes all the payments, in cash and in kind, the direct payments and the money value of the welfare benefits and perquisites extended to an employee. Hence, to avoid any misunderstanding or subsequent disappointment, the CTC components should be explained clearly and carefully to a new joinee.
Elements of CTC
The items defined under section 2 (y) of the code fall into three categories of the CTC format in vogue among the companies. They are as follows:
A) Direct benefits to an employee ??(i) basic pay, (ii) dearness allowance, (iii) retaining allowance, (a) bonus, (d) conveyance allowance, (e) special expenses, (f) house rent allowance or reimbursement, (g) amount payable under an award, (h) over time allowance, (i) commission.
Allowances such as shift allowance, education allowance, dress allowance, and any other allowance which form part of the direct benefits but have not been defined anywhere in the Code, will have to be considered as elements of item (e) special expenses and be regarded as part of remuneration.
However, medical allowance or reimbursement, medical insurance premium and leave travel reimbursement, which are shown as part of CTC, may not have to be included in calculating the remuneration under the code.
B) Indirect Benefits to an employee include the item value of house accommodation. Which under Section 2 (y) (b) of the code is defined as: ??he value of any house-accommodation, or of the supply of light, water, medical attendance or other amenity or of any service excluded from the computation of wages by a general or special order of the appropriate Government?? House accommodation to employees plus supply of electricity, water is generally provided in the company?? township. In some cases, accommodation is provided to essential staff or persons in top management cadre. There is a method of computing the value of accommodation, if provided free, as per existing income tax laws.
There are organisations that hich provide also the following benefits: interest free loans for buying assets, food coupons in lieu of subsidised meals, payment of medical insurance premium, free transport to office and free uniform. All these items form part of indirect benefits, but they have not been defined anywhere in the Code. On the other hand, they are being shown as part of CTC by the organisations. These items stay as grey areas and there is a danger that they may become objects of arbitrary interpretation by the Labour & Employment Department.
C) Saving contribution to an employee refers to item 2 (y) (c) of the code contribution paid by the employer to any pension or provident fund, and the interest which may have accrued thereon. Organisations were including the contributions made by the Employer to the employee?? Pension and Provident Fund accounts under the existing law, in the employee?? CTC. However, the interest which may have accrued to the contribution in the year was never considered as part of CTC, as this is not paid by the employer. Be that as it may, for the first time ever, the interest accruing to the contribution has been made a part of remuneration under the new code. This is clearly a new development.
Many companies operate superannuation fund for their executives. The contribution to the superannuation fund, amounting to 15 per cent of an employee?? basic salary (plus dearness allowance, if any), is solely made by the employer. The Government of India has presently set an aggregate limit of Rs 7.5 lakh for employer contributions to the Provident Fund (PF), National Pension System (NPS) and superannuation fund (SF), any contribution beyond which is taxable for the beneficiary, otherwise this amount does not at present attract any liability. In fact, the code seems silent about SF. The SF is, no doubt, a pension fund, and the code does make a mention of pension fund. But the pension fund referred to under item 2 (y) (c) in the Code is about the pension scheme which forms part of the PF. SF does not get discussed at all in the Code.
This is yet another grey area. It would, therefore, be advisable to include the employer?? contribution to the superannuation scheme as part of remuneration. There are companies that have stock options for certain category of employees and this could be a grey area for it to be considered as remuneration based on the Income Tax Act.
Impact on companies
The two items, that pose a problem in computing an employee?? remuneration for a financial year, are overtime and annual bonus. In the case of workers, over time earnings are a part of remuneration. However, the payments are likely to vary from month to month and the exact amount will only be known at the end of the year. Similarly, the annual bonus payable to employees could vary from year to year as the final amount is based on the available allocable surplus. Of course, it is entirely a different matter that in quite a few companies, the quantum of bonus is negotiated and settled with the trade union and is in no way related to the allocable surplus.
All organisations have to calculate the ??ages??as defined under the cde and see whether the existing basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance together amount to more than 50 per cent of the remuneration for every one of their employees, whether they are executives, supervisors, workers or even contract workers. If it does, there would not be any additional financial liability to the company when the code becomes operational.
But in organisations where the ??ages??do not add up to 50 per cent of the remuneration, extra provision will have to be made for leave encashment and gratuity payments. As for the employer?? contribution towards PF, as long as the present limits are in force at ??12 per cent of the wages subject to a present wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 pm ??the additional financial impact is likely to be marginal. If, however, the wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 were to be enhanced or removed, then there is bound to be additional liability, once the code becomes operational.
Conclusion
In cases where the wages paid amount to less than 50 per cent of the total remuneration, organisations need to take corrective measures to remove the anomaly forthwith. The easiest way is to enhance the basic pay gradually while granting annual increments.
Organisations should also institute reasonable limits to leave accumulation and urge their employees to avail of their annual leave regularly. This will reduce a company?? liability considerably when it comes to leave encashment.
There is a provision in the code that the full and final settlement of a departing employee will have to be completed within two working days. This may not pose a problem in the cases of retirement, retrenchment or dismissal of an employee. However, in the cases of resignation
without advance notice, making full and final settlement of the dues within two working days can be a big challenge, as processing of the monthly payroll in most enterprises is outsourced. Hopefully, this issue can be resolved by ensuring that the departing employee has to serve the notice period.
Confusion still persists among the professionals of most companies as to which components of the CTC are to be included in computing the remuneration, to determine the quantum of ??ages?? It would hugely benefit organisations, trade unions and employees, if the Ministry of Labor & Employment, Government of India can release question and answers by sharing real life examples to explain how the ??ages??are to be calculated. This will help the organisations to duly comply with all the provisions of the new code and spare them from being harassed at a later date by government agencies for non-compliance, which, in many cases, could be merely due to ignorance or misunderstandings.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Rajen Mehrotra is Past President of Industrial Relations Institute of India (IRII, Former Senior Employers??Specialist for South Asian Region with International Labor Organization (ILO) and Former Corporate Head of HR with ACC Ltd. and Former Corporate Head of Manufacturing and HR with Novartis India Ltd. E-Mail: rajenmehrotra@gmail.com
Published in April 2021 issue of Current Labour Reports.
Nuvoco Vistas opens a 2 MMTPA grinding unit at Limla, entering Gujarat and advancing its target of 35 MMTPA capacity by FY 2028.
Surat (Gujarat)
Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Ltd, a part of Nirma Group and one of India’s leading building materials company, has inaugurated the Limla Cement Plant in Surat (Gujarat), one of Vadraj Cement Limited’s (VCL) principal manufacturing facilities. The commissioning represents a key milestone in Nuvoco’s acquisition and restoration of VCL, while supporting the company’s expansion across the Western Indian cement market.
Vadraj Cement Limited is a subsidiary of Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Limited and has installed cement capacity of 6 MMTPA across its assets. The Limla inauguration therefore represents the first operational step in the acquired platform’s wider revival, while the Kutch facilities provide clinker supply, mineral security and coastal logistics support for the western business.
Nuvoco completed its acquisition of Vadraj Cement Limited, then under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, after paying a consideration of Rs 1,800 crore in June 2025. VCL’s asset portfolio comprises a clinker unit at Kutch and a grinding unit at Limla in Surat. It also includes high-quality captive limestone reserves and a captive jetty at Kutch, supporting more efficient logistics. Following the takeover, Nuvoco began an extensive programme of restoration, refurbishment and expansion at both locations, leading to the commissioning of the Limla plant.
The Limla Cement Plant is expected to support a phased increase in sales volumes across Gujarat. It will also help Nuvoco supply neighbouring markets in Western Maharashtra and release cement capacity from its northern plants, which can consequently be redirected towards markets in North India. The plant will manufacture a full portfolio comprising Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Slag Cement, Portland Pozzolana Cement and Portland Composite Cement. It will additionally produce the complete Nuvoco Duraguard range, including the premium Nuvoco Duraguard Microfibre product. The acquisition is also expected to generate operational synergies with Nuvoco’s existing plants at Nimbol and Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, improving logistics optimisation and market reach across important regional markets.
The grinding unit at the Limla Cement Plant was completed ahead of schedule, with 2 MMTPA of capacity now inaugurated to expand Nuvoco’s operating scale and customer reach. After Vadraj Cement’s assets become fully operational, plants in North and West India are expected to account for nearly 40 per cent of Nuvoco’s total cement capacity. This will broaden the company’s manufacturing network, strengthen access to high-growth markets and support its plan to increase consolidated cement capacity to 35 MMTPA by FY 2028, reinforcing its longer-term growth strategy.
Commenting on the development, Jayakumar Krishnaswamy, Managing Director, Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd, said: “The inauguration of the Limla Grinding Unit in Surat is an important milestone in Nuvoco’s growth journey and demonstrates our commitment to disciplined, value-accretive expansion. Gujarat is strategically significant for Nuvoco, with substantial opportunities arising from infrastructure investment, industrial growth, rapid urbanisation and continuing demand from the housing and construction sectors. The facility strengthens our regional footprint, improves operational flexibility and increases our ability to serve customers across northern and western markets with greater reliability and efficiency.”
He added: “Through the Vadraj acquisition, we have refurbished and restarted a strategically important asset, returning it to operations in record time through strong execution and collaboration between teams. The achievement demonstrates our ability to create value from acquired assets, fulfil our commitments and retain the confidence of stakeholders. It also highlights the strength of our project delivery capabilities and our continued focus on building sustainable, profitable growth over the long term.”
Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Limited is a building materials company whose vision is to build a safer, smarter and more sustainable world. It is among the leading players in East India and has a significant presence across North and West India. Nuvoco began operations in 2014 with a greenfield cement plant at Nimbol, Rajasthan. It later acquired Lafarge India Limited, which had entered India in 1999, followed by Emami Cement Limited in 2020 and Vadraj Cement Limited in April 2025. The company has also announced an expansion in eastern India through a new grinding mill at the Arasmeta Cement Plant, supported by several debottlenecking programmes involving equipment upgrades, process improvements and internal capacity initiatives. These developments place Nuvoco on track to achieve total cement capacity of approximately 35 MMTPA. The company reported total income of Rs 11,362 crore in FY 2025-26, reflecting its continuing growth trajectory.
Nuvoco operates a diversified portfolio across three segments: Cement, Ready-Mix Concrete and Modern Building Materials. Its cement portfolio includes Concreto, Duraguard, Double Bull, PSC, Nirmax and Infracem, covering Ordinary Portland Cement, Portland Slag Cement, Portland Pozzolana Cement and Portland Composite Cement. Its pan-India RMX business provides value-added products under Concreto for performance concrete, Artiste for decorative concrete, InstaMix for ready-to-use bagged concrete, X-Con covering M20 to M60 grades, and Ecodure for specialised green concrete. Nuvoco has supplied materials to projects including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train, Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, Aquatic Gallery at Science City in Ahmedabad, and metro railway projects in Delhi, Jaipur, Noida and Mumbai.
Indian Cement Review (ICR) and Fuller Technologies brought industry, policy and technology leaders together to discuss how cement innovation can drive green construction at scale, writes Rakesh Rao.
India is building at a pace few countries can match. Highways, airports, housing, logistics parks, industrial corridors and urban infrastructure are reshaping the country’s economic geography. But beneath this growth story lies a difficult question: can India continue to build at scale without locking itself into a high-carbon future?
That question formed the core of an online panel discussion titled “Driving Green Construction Through Cement Innovation”, organised by Indian Cement Review (ICR) in association with Fuller Technologies as the Presenting Partner on June 25, 2026. The webinar brought together experts from cement technology, R&D, global industry platforms, building performance policy and international development cooperation to examine how low-carbon cement and material innovation can accelerate India’s green construction transition.
The discussion came at a crucial time. India has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and reducing the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 per cent by 2030. At the same time, the country’s construction sector is expanding rapidly, driven by urbanisation, infrastructure development, housing demand and industrial growth. Cement, as one of the most widely used construction materials, sits at the heart of this transition. It is indispensable to development, but also central to the challenge of reducing embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure.
Moderated by Nitika Krishan, Senior Urban Infrastructure and Sustainable Policy Consultant, the panel featured:
Dr Hemantkumar Aiyer, VP and Head R&D, Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd;
Devika Wattal, Innovation Lead, Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA);
Dr Sunita Purushottam, MD, GBPN India (Global Buildings Performance Network); and
Vaibhav Rathi, Senior Technical Advisor, GIZ (the German Agency for International Cooperation)
Setting the tone for the discussion, Nitika Krishan underlined the scale of the challenge before the sector. “The question before us is no longer whether we build, but how we build sustainably,” she said. She pointed out that construction accounts for nearly 40 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions when both operational and embodied carbon are considered. Cement production, she added, remains one of the hardest industrial processes to decarbonise.
For India, this is not merely an environmental issue. It is a development issue, a competitiveness issue and increasingly, a market issue. As one of the world’s largest cement producers and among the fastest-growing construction markets, India’s material choices will influence the carbon trajectory of its built environment for decades. As Krishan observed, sustainability solutions in economies such as India must not remain limited to laboratory success. They must be scalable, commercially viable and practical at national level.
The innovation gap: From technology to market
Experts believe that there is a need to bridge the innovation gaps for making decarbonisation in cement and concrete scalable. Devika Wattal of GCCA, explained, “The starting point must be the core cement manufacturing process itself. The first and foremost is the heart of our process, the heart of cement manufacturing. How do we reduce clinker? That is always a topic where industry is working very intrinsically.”
Clinker reduction remains one of the most important pathways for lowering emissions in cement. Since clinker production is energy-intensive and chemically emits carbon dioxide, reducing the clinker factor through supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), blended cements and new chemistries can have a significant impact. Wattal also noted that carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) will have a role, though it may not be the first lever for all markets.
However, she stressed that innovation cannot stop at technology development. A solution that works in the lab must also be adaptable to industry, scalable in production and acceptable in construction practice. “It is important for that innovation to be adaptable, to be scalable, and so that it can be executed in real time,” she said.
Wattal also called for stronger enabling systems around innovation. These include performance-based standards, product-level embodied carbon databases and clearer frameworks for evaluating green materials. Without these, low-carbon cement products may struggle to compete with conventional materials in procurement and design.
R&D must balance carbon, cost and performance
Bringing in the R&D perspective into the discussion, Dr Hemantkumar Aiyer of Nuvoco Vistas emphasised that low-carbon cement development cannot be treated as a single-variable exercise. Cement must perform in real construction conditions. It must deliver strength, durability, consistency and cost competitiveness, while also reducing carbon.
“The root of understanding and balancing all these aspects lies in materials, and knowing the materials,” he said.
According to Dr Aiyer, R&D teams must understand the variability of raw materials such as fly ash, slag and clinker. Different sources produce different material behaviours. This makes mix optimisation, material characterisation and processing-property relationships critical. When performance is affected, cement manufacturers must understand how strength enhancers, admixtures and other performance chemicals interact with the material system.
He also linked material science with process efficiency. Clinkerisation takes place at extremely high temperatures, around 1,400 to 1,450 degrees Celsius. Any improvement in raw mix design, process control or energy optimisation can, therefore, help reduce emissions and cost. Dr Aiyer pointed to artificial intelligence-based optimisation, Cement 4.0 tools and advanced software as important enablers for real-time process and material control.
“The more you understand the materials, the more you can control it,” he said.
LC3: The promise is proven, the sequencing is not
Limestone calcined clay cement, commonly referred to as LC3, has attracted global attention because it can reduce clinker content significantly by using calcined clay and limestone while maintaining performance in many applications. Kiranmai Sanagavarapu of Fuller Technologies said the technology itself has already moved beyond proof of concept. Fuller Technologies has worked with calcined clay technology for nearly two decades and has seen plants running in France and Ghana. These plants, she said, are meeting local and national specifications, while the economics are beginning to make sense.
“The calciner is performing, the economics is stacking up, it is making business sense to produce,” she said.
But if the technology is viable, why has adoption not scaled faster? For Sanagavarapu, the answer lies in project sequencing. Too often, clay characterisation happens after equipment is specified. This, she warned, is a backward approach because calciner design depends on clay mineralogy, kaolinite content, iron levels, reactivity, moisture and other variables.
“If you don’t know what your deposit looks like before you commit for the equipment, you are, in a way, going blind into designing,” she said.
She also identified permitting and plant integration as major bottlenecks. Environmental clearances, mining permissions and local regulatory approvals must begin early. Similarly, calcined clay must be integrated into existing grinding, blending and logistics systems from the design stage, not treated as an afterthought during commissioning.
India already has IS 18189:2023 standard for LC3, but Sanagavarapu pointed out that the standard is not yet visible enough in procurement documents. “The gap between what is technically being permitted and what the procurement is asking is the single biggest bottleneck,” she said.
In her view, successful scale-up depends on getting the sequence right: clay characterisation first, permitting in parallel, standards aligned with construction, and integration built into plant design.
India’s LC3 journey: Progress, but demand remains thin
Providing details of India’s LC3 commercialisation experience, Vaibhav Rathi of GIZ noted that JK Cement carried out the first commercial production of LC3 at its Rajasthan plant, followed by JK Lakshmi Cement three months later. These initiatives were supported by the International Climate Initiative of the Government of Germany, with IIT Delhi contributing deep institutional knowledge on LC3 research and BIS certification.
Rathi said India’s early experience has produced clear lessons. One of the biggest was the need to build capacity among regulators. While BIS certification existed, State Pollution Control Boards were unfamiliar with the technology and unsure about the approval pathway.
“The capacity building is not just needed amongst the producer and the users of the cement, but also the regulators who are working with this technology for the first time,” he said.
He also highlighted the need for better information on China clay deposits. Since China clay is currently classified as a minor mineral, centralised data on availability, quality and location is limited. If cement manufacturers are to adopt LC3 at scale, stronger mineral intelligence will be important.
The third issue is demand. LC3 has already been used in projects such as Palava City in Mumbai and Noida International Airport, but these remain limited examples. “It is in a chicken and egg situation,” Rathi said. “Cement companies are saying we need more demand, and users are saying there is not enough cement available.”
Public procurement, he suggested, could help break this cycle. If agencies such as CPWD and other public bodies begin testing, accepting and specifying LC3, it could create the market confidence needed for cement companies to invest in production and storage.
Building codes must catch up with innovation
Dr Sunita Purushottam of GBPN India argued that material choices will determine built environment emissions over the long term, but India’s current policy signals remain fragmented. Although LC3 has received BIS recognition, she pointed out that building codes, municipal bylaws, schedules of rates and sustainability codes do not yet provide uniform guidance on low-carbon cement.
“The current cement regulations are largely prescriptive and favouring traditional materials,” she said. This limits the ability of alternative materials to compete on performance, durability and emissions.
Dr Purushottam also raised the issue of taxation. Cement, including LC3, currently falls under the same GST bracket as conventional cement. A differentiated tax structure, she argued, could help accelerate market adoption. “In order for the market to demand LC3, that differentiation in the GST could go a long way,” she said.
She noted that green building certifications such as IGBC and GRIHA are already creating demand for low-carbon materials by assigning points for embodied carbon and sustainable material use. However, she said large-scale adoption will require regulatory mandates, particularly through building codes and state-level notifications.
She also cautioned that low-carbon cement alone does not solve the entire building performance problem. A material may reduce embodied carbon, but the operational carbon of a building depends on thermal performance, design, insulation and energy use. “The energy part has two elements,” she said. “One is the embodied carbon of the material itself, and the other is the operational carbon.”
Collaboration is the bridge between invention and impact
Wattal said GCCA sees innovation as a strategic priority and works through platforms that connect industry with academia and start-ups. “There is no way we will decarbonise our sector without innovation,” she said.
However, she stressed that research must be connected to actual industry challenges. Innovations developed in isolation may fail when they encounter real-world barriers such as raw material variability, plant integration, cost, standards and finance. Start-ups, too, need industry mentorship and scale-up pathways.
Wattal also flagged the importance of finance. Even strong technologies may struggle to attract investment if there is no common understanding of bankability. “We have always put projects into, is this a bankable project? But the definition of a bankable project has never been defined,” she said.
For India, she saw strong potential in its academic and start-up ecosystem, but said the challenge lies in alignment and prioritisation. The country has the research base, industrial capacity and market size. What it now needs is a coordinated route from innovation to deployment.
There is a practical concern for cement manufacturers: how can existing plants be adapted for lower emissions without compromising reliability or commercial viability?
Kiranmai Sanagavarapu addressed, “The reliability risk in calcined clay retrofit is definitely real, but it is almost always self-inflicted. The risk arises when a new process is added to an existing circuit without properly redesigning grinding and blending configurations.”
Existing cement plants, she explained, can take two broad routes. The first is external sourcing of calcined clay combined with mill optimisation. This requires lower capital investment and can potentially move in 12 to 18 months if other conditions are in place. It may reduce emissions by around 20 to 30 per cent. The second route is integrated calcination on site, which requires higher capital expenditure and longer lead times, but provides greater control over quality, supply and emissions reduction potential.
For Sanagavarapu, the principle is simple: low-carbon retrofits must be designed with intent. “Design it with an intent properly from the start. Start in the market conditions where the economics are already working,” she said.
Circularity: The overlooked advantage
According to Vaibhav Rathi, fly ash and slag are already well established in cement and construction (C&D), but construction and demolition waste remains underutilised. “C&D waste is a growing business opportunity which not many have taken up,” he said. India’s continuous construction and demolition activity creates huge volumes of waste, much of which contributes to air pollution, land degradation and material inefficiency. With the right processing and standards, this waste can be converted into useful construction products.
Rathi also pointed out that LC3 has a circular economy dimension that is often overlooked. It can use low-grade kaolin-rich clay left behind after high-grade clay is extracted for other applications. “LC3 is not only a low-carbon solution, but also a circular economy solution,” he said.
At the same time, he cautioned that LC3 in India is not yet cheap because it has not reached scale. Site-specific techno-commercial feasibility studies, supported jointly by development agencies and industry, could help companies assess whether LC3 production makes technical and financial sense at a given location.
Dr Purushottam added that India must address both low-carbon cement and construction waste together. “Both low-carbon cement and C&D waste go hand in hand. India does not have an option but to work on both,” she said.
Dr Aiyer called for policy shifts from both government and industry, including preferential purchasing of sustainable materials, minimum supplementary cementitious material requirements in public and public-private projects, and faster regulatory implementation. “If we can fast-track the regulatory standards and their implementation on the ground, that is the way to go,” he said.
From green ambition to green construction
Cement innovation is no longer only about chemistry. It is about systems. Low-carbon cement will scale only when technology, standards, procurement, finance, regulation, education and construction practice move together.
LC3 and other low-carbon technologies have shown promise. India has early commercial examples, strong research capability and growing market interest. But mainstream adoption will depend on whether demand can be created, regulators can be capacitated, standards can be embedded in procurement, and manufacturers can see a clear business case.
For a country building at India’s scale, the opportunity is enormous. Cement will continue to be central to infrastructure and urban development. The challenge now is to ensure that the cement used in India’s growth story carries a lower carbon burden.
Rakesh Rao
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Specialised rail logistics will move fly ash from power plants to infrastructure industries.
New Delhi
Indian Railways is planning a large-scale green logistics initiative to transport fly ash from thermal power plants to industries where it can be reused in infrastructure and construction activities.
The initiative was discussed during a review meeting chaired by Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw. Union Ministers of State for Railways V Somanna and Ravneet Singh Bittu were also present.
India generates nearly 340 million tonnes of fly ash every year from thermal power plants. The proposed initiative aims to create an efficient rail-based transport system using specialised containers and dedicated logistics arrangements to move fly ash safely from power plants to end-use industries.
Fly ash is widely used in road construction, cement manufacturing, brick production, concrete, blocks and boards. By improving its movement through the railway network, the initiative is expected to support better utilisation of this industrial by-product while reducing environmental concerns linked to storage and disposal.
The move also aligns with India’s circular economy goals by converting waste from thermal power generation into a useful raw material for the construction and infrastructure sectors. Wider availability of fly ash can help reduce material costs in areas such as bricks and cement, supporting more affordable infrastructure and housing development.
Through this initiative, Indian Railways aims to provide a cleaner, safer and more organised transport solution for fly ash, turning an environmental challenge into an infrastructure resource.
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