Product development

Cement Czars

Published

3 years ago

October 14, 2021

admin

The pioneers of the cement industry provide an overview on the performance of this segment in the past few years. They also highlight the challenges and hope for better growth prospects in the future.

Historically czars were known for their might and superiority. In the cement industry they exist even today in the talented and successful playersin the highly competitive market. The Indian cement industry is dominated by 20 companies which account for over 70 per cent of the market. Individually, no company accounts for over 12 per cent of the market. The major players like ACC, Ultra Tech, Jaiprakash Associates, Ambuja and India Cements have been quite successful in narrowing the gap between demand and supply. The housing sector consumes 53 per cent followed by government infrastructure. However, in the recent times all the leading giants including ACC, Ambuja, UltraTech, have faced a tough time due to the mismatch between demand and supply.

The hike in diesel prices has further worsened the situation as it has increased the logistics cost. Owing to the high input cost, companies like India Cements, reported a dip of 29.5 per cent in the second quarter of FY 2012. It was reportedly stated that only 70 per cent of the clinker facilities have been utilised. In this crisis situation, many of the industry gurus feel that consolidation would be the key solution. One of the biggest examples of the same could be Dalmia, which acquired Calcom and Adhunik Cement in the year 2012. By the end of the year, the company had already secured an additional stake of 25 per cent in the latter and went on to become one of the biggest companies in Northeast India.

Due to low value and high density of cement, its movement is normally restricted to nearby markets. However, cement companies have moved their distribution to far away distances. For instance, Rajasthan based plants supplying to markets like Bihar, West Bengal and similarly, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh plants supplying to markets of Gujarat as well as Orissa and West Bengal. As far as marketing of cement is concerned, there is no limit or zoning for cement companies.

Past performance

In FY11, the demand for cement grew at moderate rate of five per cent on Y-o-Y basis. The construction activities remained subdued in FY11 owing to various reasons like prolonged monsoon, heavy winter, delay in execution of infrastructural projects etc. which led to slowdown in cement off take. The dismal performance of the cement industry continued in FY12. The slowdown in the real estate sector and delay in take off of the various infrastructural projects owing to the spiralling cost of capital has hit the cement consumption in this fiscal. During the first nine months of FY12, the cement demand grew at 5.3 per cent on Y-o-Y basis. However, the long term cement demand is expected to remain intact.

The profitability margins of the cement industry have shown some improvement in FY12. Considering the first nine months of FY12, the cement industry has witnessed a marginal improvement despite the rise in cost. In spite of the supply glut situation, the industry was able to pass on the increased cost burden to the consumers on the back of the supply discipline followed by the cement players in this fiscal.

Vinita Singhania, Managing Director, JK Lakshmi Cements said, "After an impressive September quarter, cement companies are staring a muted growth in the December quarter. The dismal demand led to considerable drop in prices. The high interest and slowdown in economic activities contributed to the fall in major consuming segments like Reality and Infrastructure." Accepting the fact that the cement industry is currently marred due to a steep rise in freight and raw material cost because of the slowdown in demand, she feels that the demand and supply gap contributes to additional challenges.

New year 2013

Commenting on the current scenario of the cement industry, Alok Sanghi, Director, Sanghi Industries agreed that the cement industry is going through a challenging phase. Explaining the situation further, he said, "With an oversupply in the market, the demand is less and slows down further putting some supply and price pressure on cement. We believe that this will continue for another year, after which things will start improving, and if the government policies also take off, the demand should also improve faster."

Suman Mukherjee, Managing Director and CEO – India, Shree Digvijay, Cement Company, Votorantim Group Company points out, "The Indian economic growth forecasted to be around six per cent for the FY 2012 -13 and is expected to grow around 6-6.5 per cent in FY 2013. However, the October-December quarter had not seen the growth as expected. Cement prices across the country are under pressure. Even as the peak construction period has set in, poor demand and inactivity in the construction space have hit prices." However, he added that the cement demand is expected to grow in the first half of the year a and as a result the price is expected to rise, which will also ease out the price pressure.

Further explaining the scenario of the industry, K Ravi, Managing Director, NCL Industries, pointed out that the cement industry in India has grown substantially as cement is one of the major elements in construction work. "At present there seems to be a mismatch between demand and supply. Consequently, the present cement prices are not favourable for the industry. We feel that the cement industry will play a crucial role in both infrastructure and housing in the near future. The consumption of cement has also increased gradually in recent times, by over eight per cent.

Demand for cement from the southern part of the country is high, as there have been more real estate and construction activities in that region." The lack of rain this year allowed construction companies to continue working as usual and this has pushed up demand for cement by more than 10 per cent all over India in the months of October, November and December 2012. Commenting on the situation in Southern India, Ravi elaborated that the market in South has a potential growth as some of the existing and new companies are planning to set up new units in the upcoming years.

M Ravinder Reddy, Head Marketing, India, Vicat Group and Director Marketing, Bharathi Cement said, "As far as demand is concerned probably in 2012, our final total estimate was 250 million tonne. We are expecting an average of eight per cent and if the government decides to spend more money on the coming election, it may even increase. The overall demand of cement was sluggish particularly in South India. And the growth rate was extremely marginal however; the industry grew at five-six per cent."

The year 2013, according to Sanghi will witness the reduction in gap of supply and demand. "I think in the last year 2012, we were reaching the bottom or probably we have already hit the bottom, thus the only thing that can happen or the only way out is climbing up the ladder. From this year, I feel the supply demand mismatch what is there will reduce and possibly by 2015 we should see that it should be equal."

Mukherjee added that the industry is expected to add 30-40 million tonne of capacity in 2013.The sector is set to see large scale merger and acquisition. Larger and global cement companies with superior cost position and pan India presence are expected to remain stable in 2013, whereas smaller companies with an unfavourable cost structure and regional concentrations are likely to face tough competition.

Remaining optimistic about the year 2013, Ravi predicts better results in the next two quarters. "The latest market reports indicate that there has been a slight improvement in pricing on account of the recent diesel price hike. Since the construction activity will normally be at its peak from now onwards up to June/July, the cement industry is likely to post better performance in the next two quarters."

According to Singhania, "As per the new research report by RNCOS, the thrust on the rural infrastructure development is expected to raise the cement consumption in the coming years which would benefit tier II and tier III cities immensely. As a matter of fact, JK Lakshmi Cement is a leading regional player and our maximum profit is driven from the north region. The industry expects the over capacity situation to be balanced out with the rise in demand in the forthcoming quarter as there are heightened activities in the construction sector. As the cement prices would also increase, it would help cement companies to maintain profit margins." CARE Research estimates the cement demand to grow at a CAGR of 8.3 per cent during the period FY12-15.

Challenges

The major challenge that the industry is expected to face, is the steep rise in the cost of raw materials and paucity of coal. Explaining the situation further Reddy said, "Earlier we had enough coal to cater to our industry, but now we are dependent on imports from Indonesia, or Africa." With the logistic cost going high, the industry is expected to face crisis in the upcoming year.

Despite the demand and supply mismatch, cement companies like Dalmia, Bharathi Cements, UltraTech, JK Lakshmi have been adding on to their existing capacity. Since the cement industry is expected to have an upturn, companies have being opting for green field expansions. Dalmia as a Group has decided to increase their capacity by five million tonne, the production is divided into different segments – one million tonne from Calcom, 2.5 million tonne from Belgaum, 1.3 million tonne by OCL split grinding at Medinapur. Similarly, JK Lakshmi also plans green field expansion. VP Sharma, COO, Dalmia Bharat mentions, "It takes time for the capacity to be operational, more than two years is the construction period and six months to one year is the ramp up period for the plant. The company wants to reap the benefits when the cement cycle turns, therefore it is necessary to reap to build now. Our plants will commission by 2015 and it is expected that we would witness a better demand growth by then." He further added that the capacity expansions are slowing down due to increase in replacement cost and more complicated procedures for approvals. To sum up, though the cement industry is facing a tough time, the cement czars are very optimistic that the industry will once again regain its lost pace

Oh how I wish….

Players of the industry have many expectation from the Union Budget 2013. Indian Cement Review interacted with some of them and listed down their wish list for the same. Singhania expressing her opinion on the upcoming budget said, "I believe, introduction of tax free bonds, formation of infrastructure debt funds and formulating a comprehensive policy for developing Public Private Partnership projects (PPPs) are some of the steps that will provide required stimulus for growth of the cement industry. Also, given the rapidly growing demand for housing from the low middle income population, there is a need to promote low cost housing."

On the policy level, Mukherjee feels that the impact of government levies and taxes, which includes excise duty, royalty on limestone and coal, electricity duty, clean energy, cess on fuel, vat etc. on cement constitutes about 60 per cent or more of the ex-factory price of cement. VAT is another tax, which is very high on cement at 12.5 per cent, even up to 15 per cent in some of the states, while it is only four per cent on steel. Both steel and cement are two main materials for any construction, so to maintain parity and reduce heavy burden of taxes and levies both can be brought at par.

Singhania further mentions that to encourage the cement industry and bring it at par with other core and infrastructure industries, the excise duty rate should be rationalised from 12 per cent to six-eight per cent. The government should provide a level playing field for the industry; basic customs duty should be levied on cement imports into India. Alternatively, import duties on goods required for manufacture of cement should be abolished and free movement be allowed without levy of duty. Sharma and Mukherjee agree with this opinion. Sharma says, "Also I feel that new policies should focus on spending on infrastructure, particularly the housing sector, which will further boost the demand of cement and will benefit the industry."

Mukherjee also mentions, "It is also desired that cement be stipulated as ‘Declared goods’ under section 14 of Central Sales Tax Act so that it is put on an equal footing with other core sectors goods like coal, steel, crude oil, jute, cotton yarn etc." Singhania concurs with Mukherjee on this. Also, the Central Government has made a proposal to the State Government for dual rate under GST which would be brought to single rate over a period of three years. However, Singhania suggests that single rate may kindly be introduced from the first year itself, so that all disputes/litigation towards classification can be avoided from the first year itself.

She also adds that energy cost is a very substantial part of producing cement, both in India and globally. The state governments are imposing renewable energy obligations on the industry and hence, the cement industry is putting up waste heat recovery plants so as to derive more energy from the same energy resource, in a way; this is akin to green energy. All of this requires further capital investments. To help the industry in its endeavour to produce more such environment-friendly energy, it is requested that such energy generation be treated as renewable energy source.

Raw material reserve is another burning issue nowadays. Because of environmental issues even the existing coal mines are coming under restriction to operate. The Government of India should immediately look into it and expedite the procedure of block notification, e-auction and allotment of new mines. Royalty paid on limestone as well as duty/cess paid on indigenous coal can be allowed as credit – either as CENVAT credit or VAT credit to reduce input cost. The Government can also consider waste heat recovery as a renewal energy source.

Mukherjee also adds that the import of coal, gypsum, pet coke etc should be duty free as the duty on pet coke and gypsum is 2.5 per cent, if imported, while there is no duty on cement import. This leads to anomaly in the import duty on inputs is higher than the finished goods. He also mentions that wharf age charges and handling losses on exports of clinker / cements should be considered since such export would earn valuable foreign exchange for the country and make its product competitive in the international market. Also excise duty on a certain percentage of such export as a part of handling loss may be waived.

The Government’s long cherished ‘Dream’ of providing world class standard of concrete roads if adopted on a large scale, will increase cement consumption in the country. Concrete roads are long lasting, maintenance free for 30-40 years and as a result they are also cheap. He further adds, "Government initiatives towards infrastructural and housing development can be a contributing factor towards development of cement industry. The residential support needs to be supported to address the housing need of the public. Measures to bring down home loan rates and bank support for project development needs to be decided. Tax concession for affordable housing and income tax relief.

All the players wil be aniticiapating their wish list come true as the budget will give a new direction to the cement industry.

Vinita Singhania,

Managing Director, JK Lakshmi

"The thrust on the rural infrastructure development is expected to raise the cement consumption in the coming years which would benefit tier II and tier III cities immensely."

Suman Mukherjee, Managing Director and CEO – India, Shree Digvijay Cement Company, A Votorantim Group Company "Smaller companies with an unfavourable cost structure and regional concentrations."

VP Sharma,

COO, Dalmia Bharat

"The company wants to reap the benefits when cement cycle will turn, therefore it is necessary to reap to expand now."

M Ravinder Reddy, Head Marketing, India, Vicat Group and Director Marketing Bharathi Cement said

"We are expecting an average of 8 per cent and if government decides to spend more money on the coming election."

K Ravi,

Managing Director, NCL Industries

"The construction activity will be normally at peak a level from now onwards up to June/July; the cement industry is likely to post better performance in the next two quarters."

Alok Sanghi,

Director, Sanghi Industries

"We believe that this will continue for a year, after which things will start improving."

UltraTech

UltraTech Cement is part of the US $ 40 billion Aditya Birla Group. The company nearly has 22 cement plants in India with an installed capacity of 52 mtpa and is expected to add 10 million tonne by the end of FY 13. UltraTech’s products include Ordinary Portland cement, Portland Pozzolana cement and Portland blast furnace slag cement. As per the recent reports, the company plans to purchase cement plant in Gujarat owned by ABG Cement. UltraTech will be adding 9.2 million tonnes of new capacity making way in FY14 which will increase overall cement capacity to 62 mt and to increase their presence in the high margin white cement business. For logistical reasons the company has a captive jetty is situated on Saurashtra coast (village Kovaya) between Jafrabad and the port of Pipavav (in Pipavav Port area)

Ambuja

Ambuja Cements is known for its stringent quality control policies. The company recently won the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) Sustainability Awards 2012. the company has its cemebnt plant in India including places like Ambujanagar Gujarat, Darlaghat Himachal Pradesh, Chandrapur Maharashtra, Bhatapara Chattisgarh and Rabriyawas Rajasthan. Besides, the company has One Clinkerisation Plant at Rauri Himachal Pradesh and eight Clinker Grinding Plants at Ropar and Bhatinda in Punjab, Sankrail and Farakka in West Bengal, Surat in Gujarat, Roorkee in Uttarachal, Dadri in U.P and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh.and with a total cement production of 25.0 Mtpa. GACL was one of the first cement producers of the country to introduce an Integrated Logistics System (ILS). At each manufacturing unit, a cross functional committee was responsible for the efficient management of logistic functions.

Jai Prakash Associates

Jaypee group is the third largest cement producer in the country. The groups cement facilities are located in the Satna, Madhya Pradesh. The group produces special blend of Portland Pozzolana Cement under the brand name ‘Jaypee Cement’ (PPC). Its cement division currently operates modern, computerized process control cement plants with an aggregate installed capacity of 28 mtpa. The company is in the midst of capacity expansion of its cement business in Northern, Southern, Central, Eastern and Western parts of the country and is slated to be a 35.90 mtpa by FY13 (expected) with Captive Thermal Power plants totaling 672 mw.

India Cements

South India’s largest cement maker by volume, India Cements, is the second largest cement market with a capacity of 300 mtpa Recently the company’s profits skidded by 30 per cent due to high input cost. The company’s plants are well spread with three in Tamilnadu and four in Andhra Pradesh which cater to all major markets in South India and Maharashtra. Cement is manufactured under the brand name, ‘Coromandel’. the cement giant has recently got a nod for expanding its capacity from the environment ministry for its cement plants.

ACC

ACC Limited is India’s foremost manufacturer of cement and ready mixed concrete with a countrywide network of factories and sales offices. ACC has a countrywide network with over 51 modern plants in major cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, Chandigarh and Ahmadabad. ACC is the part of Holcim Group. Speedcrete and UTWT 24 are the couple of new innovate products launched by the company. ACC produces OPC 43 Grade, 53 Grade Cement,Fly-ash based Portland Pozzolana Cement and Portland Slag Cement

Shree Cement

It presently has a cement production capacity of 13.5 mtpa. It plans to raise it further and as a first step, has already undertaken work on setting up two new Clinker Manufacturing Units of 2 mtpa capacity each at Ras in Rajasthan. A new Grinding Unit in the state of Bihar and an Integrated Unit in the state of Chattisgarh have also been envisioned and pre-project activities are in their final stages of completion.Shree Cements reported an enhanced second quarter performance in the financial year 2012-13 with a 3.67 times upswing in net profit to Rs 217 crore. The company’s net sales propagated by 19.4 per cent to Rs 1428 crore from Rs 1,195.8 crore during the same period. Shree Cements are to run their capacity at 100 percent in the second half and aims to produce 6.75 million tonne in the second half along with 12.8 million tonne of cement and expects growth in H2FY13.

Madras Cement

Madras Cements is the flagship company of the Ramco Group, a well-known business group of South India. Headquartered at Chennai, the main product of the company is Portland cement, manufactured in five state-of-the art production facilities spread over South India, with a current total production capacity of 13.0 mtpa. The company has integrated plants in Ramasamy Alathiyur, Ariyalur in, Tamil Nadu, Ariyalur, Govindapuram, Ariyalur District, Tamil Nadu, Jayanthipuram, Andhra Pradesh, Mathodu, Chitradurga District, Karnataka

Economy & Market

Impactful Branding

Published

1 year ago

July 17, 2023

admin

Advertising or branding is never about driving sales. It’s about creating brand awareness and recall. It’s about conveying the core values of your brand to your consumers. In this context, why is branding important for cement companies? As far as the customers are concerned cement is simply cement. It is precisely for this reason that branding, marketing and advertising of cement becomes crucial. Since the customer is unable to differentiate between the shades of grey, the onus of creating this awareness is carried by the brands. That explains the heavy marketing budgets, celebrity-centric commercials, emotion-invoking taglines and campaigns enunciating the many benefits of their offerings.
Marketing strategies of cement companies have undergone gradual transformation owing to the change in consumer behaviour. While TV commercials are high on humour and emotions to establish a fast connect with the customer, social media campaigns are focussed more on capturing the consumer’s attention in an over-crowded virtual world. Branding for cement companies has become a holistic growth strategy with quantifiable results. This has made brands opt for a mix package of traditional and new-age tools, such as social media. However, the hero of every marketing communication is the message, which encapsulates the unique selling points of the product. That after all is crux of the matter here.
While cement companies are effectively using marketing tools to reach out to the consumers, they need to strengthen the four Cs of the branding process – Consumer, Cost, Communication and Convenience. Putting up the right message, at the right time and at the right place for the right kind of customer demographic is of utmost importance in the long run. It is precisely for this reason that regional players are likely to have an upper hand as they rely on local language and cultural references to drive home the point. But modern marketing and branding domain is exponentially growing and it would be an interesting exercise to tabulate and analyse its impact on branding for cement.

Concrete

Indian cement industry is well known for its energy and natural resource efficiency

Published

2 years ago

November 18, 2022

admin

Dr Hitesh Sukhwal, Deputy General Manager – Environment, Udaipur Cement Works Limited (UCWL) takes us through the multifaceted efforts that the company has undertaken to keep emissions in check with the use of alternative sources of energy and carbon capture technology.

Tell us about the policies of your organisation for the betterment of the environment.
Caring for people is one of the core values of our JK Lakshmi Cement Limited. We strongly believe that we all together can make a difference. In all our units, we have taken measures to reduce carbon footprint, emissions and minimise the use of natural resources. Climate change and sustainable development are major global concerns. As a responsible corporate, we are committed with and doing consistent effort small or big to preserve and enrich the environment in and around our area of operations.
As far as environmental policies are concerned, we are committed to comply with all applicable laws, standards and regulations of regulatory bodies pertaining to the environment. We are consistently making efforts to integrate the environmental concerns into the mainstream of the operations. We are giving thrust upon natural resource conservation like limestone, gypsum, water and energy. We are utilising different kinds of alternative fuels and raw materials. Awareness among the employees and local people on environmental concerns is an integral part of our company. We are adopting best environmental practices aligned with sustainable development goals.
Udaipur Cement Works Limited is a subsidiary of the JK Lakshmi Cement Limited. Since its inception, the company is committed towards boosting sustainability through adopting the latest art of technology designs, resource efficient equipment and various in-house innovations. We are giving thrust upon renewable and clean energy sources for our cement manufacturing. Solar Power and Waste Heat Recovery based power are our key ingredients for total power mix.

What impact does cement production have on the environment? Elaborate the major areas affected.
The major environmental concern areas during cement production are air emissions through point and nonpoint sources due to plant operation and emissions from mining operation, from material transport, carbon emissions through process, transit, noise pollution, vibration during mining, natural resource depletion, loss of biodiversity and change in landscape.
India is the second largest cement producer in the world. The Indian cement industry is well known for its energy and natural resource efficiency worldwide. The Indian cement industry is a frontrunner for implementing significant technology measures to ensure a greener future.
The cement industry is an energy intensive and significant contributor to climate change. Cement production contributes greenhouse gases directly and indirectly into the atmosphere through calcination and use of fossil fuels in an energy form. The industry believes in a circular economy by utilising alternative fuels for making cement. Cement companies are focusing on major areas of energy efficiency by adoption of technology measures, clinker substitution by alternative raw material for cement making, alternative fuels and green and clean energy resources. These all efforts are being done towards environment protection and sustainable future.
Nowadays, almost all cement units have a dry manufacturing process for cement production, only a few exceptions where wet manufacturing processes are in operation. In the dry manufacturing process, water is used only for the purpose of machinery cooling, which is recirculated in a closed loop, thus, no polluted water is generated during the dry manufacturing process.
We should also accept the fact that modern life is impossible without cement. However, through state-of-the-art technology and innovations, it is possible to mitigate all kinds of pollution without harm to the environment and human beings.

Tell us about the impact blended cement creates on the environment and emission rate.
Our country started cement production in 1914. However, it was introduced in the year 1904 at a small scale, earlier. Initially, the manufacturing of cement was only for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). In the 1980s, the production of blended cement was introduced by replacing fly ash and blast furnace slag. The production of blended cement increased in the growth period and crossed the 50 per cent in the year 2004.
The manufacturing of blended cement results in substantial savings in the thermal and electrical energy consumption as well as saving of natural resources. The overall consumption of raw materials, fossil fuel such as coal, efficient burning and state-of-the-art technology in cement plants have resulted in the gradual reduction of emission of carbon dioxide (CO2). Later, the production of blended cement was increased in manifolds.
If we think about the growth of blended cement in the past few decades, we can understand how much quantity of , (fly ash and slag) consumed and saved natural resources like limestone and fossil fuel, which were anyhow disposed of and harmed the environment. This is the reason it is called green cement. Reduction in the clinker to cement ratio has the second highest emission reduction potential i.e., 37 per cent. The low carbon roadmap for cement industries can be achieved from blended cement. Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Composite Cement are already approved by the National Agency BIS.
As far as kilogram CO2 per ton of cement emission concerns, Portland Slag Cement (PSC) has a larger potential, other than PPC, Composite Cement etc. for carbon emission reduction. BIS approved 60 per cent slag and 35 per cent clinker in composition of PSC. Thus, clinker per centage is quite less in PSC composition compared to other blended cement. The manufacturing of blended cement directly reduces thermal and process emissions, which contribute high in overall emissions from the cement industry, and this cannot be addressed through adoption of energy efficiency measures.
In the coming times, the cement industry must relook for other blended cement options to achieve a low carbon emissions road map. In near future, availability of fly ash and slag in terms of quality and quantity will be reduced due to various government schemes for low carbon initiatives viz. enhance renewable energy sources, waste to energy plants etc.
Further, it is required to increase awareness among consumers, like individual home builders or large infrastructure projects, to adopt greener alternatives viz. PPC and PSC for more sustainable
resource utilisation.

What are the decarbonising efforts taken by your organisation?
India is the world’s second largest cement producer. Rapid growth of big infrastructure, low-cost housing (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna), smart cities project and urbanisation will create cement demand in future. Being an energy intensive industry, we are also focusing upon alternative and renewable energy sources for long-term sustainable business growth for cement production.
Presently, our focus is to improve efficiency of zero carbon electricity generation technology such as waste heat recovery power through process optimisation and by adopting technological innovations in WHR power systems. We are also increasing our capacity for WHR based power and solar power in the near future. Right now, we are sourcing about 50 per cent of our power requirement from clean and renewable energy sources i.e., zero carbon electricity generation technology. Usage of alternative fuel during co-processing in the cement manufacturing process is a viable and sustainable option. In our unit, we are utilising alternative raw material and fuel for reducing carbon emissions. We are also looking forward to green logistics for our product transport in nearby areas.
By reducing clinker – cement ratio, increasing production of PPC and PSC cement, utilisation of alternative raw materials like synthetic gypsum/chemical gypsum, Jarosite generated from other process industries, we can reduce carbon emissions from cement manufacturing process. Further, we are looking forward to generating onsite fossil free electricity generation facilities by increasing the capacity of WHR based power and ground mounted solar energy plants.
We can say energy is the prime requirement of the cement industry and renewable energy is one of the major sources, which provides an opportunity to make a clean, safe and infinite source of power which is affordable for the cement industry.

What are the current programmes run by your organisation for re-building the environment and reducing pollution?
We are working in different ways for environmental aspects. As I said, we strongly believe that we all together can make a difference. We focus on every environmental aspect directly / indirectly related to our operation and surroundings.
If we talk about air pollution in operation, every section of the operational unit is well equipped with state-of-the-art technology-based air pollution control equipment (BagHouse and ESP) to mitigate the dust pollution beyond the compliance standard. We use high class standard PTFE glass fibre filter bags in our bag houses. UCWL has installed the DeNOx system (SNCR) for abatement of NOx pollution within norms. The company has installed a 6 MW capacity Waste Heat Recovery based power plant that utilises waste heat of kiln i.e., green and clean energy source. Also, installed a 14.6 MW capacity solar power system in the form of a renewable energy source.
All material transfer points are equipped with a dust extraction system. Material is stored under a covered shed to avoid secondary fugitive dust emission sources. Finished product is stored in silos. Water spraying system are mounted with material handling point. Road vacuum sweeping machine deployed for housekeeping of paved area.
In mining, have deployed wet drill machine for drilling bore holes. Controlled blasting is carried out with optimum charge using Air Decking Technique with wooden spacers and non-electric detonator (NONEL) for control of noise, fly rock, vibration, and dust emission. No secondary blasting is being done. The boulders are broken by hydraulic rock breaker. Moreover, instead of road transport, we installed Overland Belt Conveying system for crushed limestone transport from mine lease area to cement plant. Thus omit an insignificant amount of greenhouse gas emissions due to material transport, which is otherwise emitted from combustion of fossil fuel in the transport system. All point emission sources (stacks) are well equipped with online continuous emission monitoring system (OCEMS) for measuring parameters like PM, SO2 and NOx for 24×7. OCEMS data are interfaced with SPCB and CPCB servers.
The company has done considerable work upon water conservation and certified at 2.76 times water positive. We installed a digital water flow metre for each abstraction point and digital ground water level recorder for measuring ground water level 24×7. All digital metres and level recorders are monitored by an in-house designed IoT based dashboard. Through this live dashboard, we can assess the impact of rainwater harvesting (RWH) and ground water monitoring.
All points of domestic sewage are well connected with Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and treated water is being utilised in industrial cooling purposes, green belt development and in dust suppression. Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) installed for mine’s workshop. Treated water is reused in washing activity. The unit maintains Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD).
Our unit has done extensive plantations of native and pollution tolerant species in industrial premises and mine lease areas. Moreover, we are not confined to our industrial boundary for plantation. We organised seedling distribution camps in our surrounding areas. We involve our stakeholders, too, for our plantation drive. UCWL has also extended its services under Corporate Social Responsibility for betterment of the environment in its surrounding. We conduct awareness programs for employees and stakeholders. We have banned Single Use Plastic (SUP) in our premises. In our industrial township, we have implemented a solid waste management system for our all households, guest house and bachelor hostel. A complete process of segregated waste (dry and wet) door to door collection systems is well established.

Tell us about the efforts taken by your organisation to better the environment in and around the manufacturing unit.
UCWL has invested capital in various environmental management and protection projects like installed DeNOx (SNCR) system, strengthening green belt development in and out of industrial premises, installed high class pollution control equipment, ground-mounted solar power plant etc.
The company has taken up various energy conservation projects like, installed VFD to reduce power consumption, improve efficiency of WHR power generation by installing additional economiser tubes and AI-based process optimisation systems. Further, we are going to increase WHR power generation capacity under our upcoming expansion project. UCWL promotes rainwater harvesting for augmentation of the ground water resource. Various scientifically based WHR structures are installed in plant premises and mine lease areas. About 80 per cent of present water requirement is being fulfilled by harvested rainwater sourced from Mine’s Pit. We are also looking forward towards green transport (CNG/LNG based), which will drastically reduce carbon footprint.
We are proud to say that JK Lakshmi Cement Limited has a strong leadership and vision for developing an eco-conscious and sustainable role model of our cement business. The company was a pioneer among cement industries of India, which had installed the DeNOx (SNCR) system in its cement plant.

Concrete

NTPC selects Carbon Clean and Green Power for carbon capture facility

Published

2 years ago

October 12, 2022

admin

Carbon Clean and Green Power International Pvt. Ltd has been chosen by NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA) to establish the carbon capture facility at NTPC Vindhyachal. This facility, which will use a modified tertiary amine to absorb CO2 from the power plant’s flue gas, is intended to capture 20 tonnes of CO2) per day. A catalytic hydrogenation method will eventually be used to mix the CO2 with hydrogen to create 10 tonnes of methanol each day. For NTPC, capturing CO2 from coal-fired power plant flue gas and turning it into methanol is a key area that has the potential to open up new business prospects and revenue streams.