Product development
Humanising a brand through CSR initiatives enriches the brand equity
Published
3 years agoon
By
adminMonitoring and evaluation form the crux of the project implementation under CSR. Below are the excerpts from an interview with Srinivas Kadambi, Chief Manager-CSR Vicat i9n India, and M Sai Ramesh, Chief Manufacturing Officer at Vicat India.
How important is CSR for our economy and what impact does it have on your business?
Social development and economic development are interwoven with each other. The indices of social development are directly proportional to economic development. More than the classes, it is the masses that really nurture the business. The doctrine of social responsibility assumes that quality of life is as important as the quality of a product. It holds that consequences of business activity extend beyond the production of goods and services. Real business involvement is essential to turn around deprived neighbourhoods and build strong and healthy communities.
In the case of businesses especially which are into manufacturing, it is vital to have a strong community connection, as the community is one of the important stakeholders. For instance, in a scenario of cement production, land acquisition is a major activity for setting up the cement plant which is acquired from the local community. Thus, the community forms an integral part of the manufacturing business if manufacturing operations cease to exist.
CSR is an important function on the business radar to fulfill the organisational social obligations towards the community. It not only builds the economic fabric of the organisation but also helps in strengthening the economy of local communities around the manufacturing plant.
CSR also helps in building a positive image of the brand and hence gaining customer loyalty. Do you agree? Please explain.
Brand loyalty is all about emotional connect. Humanising a brand through CSR initiatives enriches the brand equity in the market. CSR reposes immense trust in the customers and thus contributes to the overall business development. The impact of corporate social responsibility initiatives of an organisation tremendously improves the competitiveness of the organisation in today?? aggressive market environment.
For instance, a manufacturing unit, which is highly conscious of the environmental issues engulfing the plant on account of its operations tends to project itself as a Green company and reposes confidence in the minds of several stakeholders. It could be water bodies??protection, green belt development, combating air pollution, offsetting carbon emissions, rainwater harvesting to increase water table, farm ponds, etc., under CSR, which tends to build a stronger connection both with internal and external stakeholders.
Do you think a socially conscious image is important to remain in the competition today? What are business areas where CSR helps?
Apart from being ethical in business, it is highly essential to be socially conscious in today?? competitive world. Several stakeholders right from the investors through customers believe in the theory of corporate sustainability encompassing responsible behaviour towards investors, workforce, customers and society at large. Hence, a socially responsible organisation has a competitive edge over others in all spheres of business operations. For instance, from a manufacturing business perspective, CSR helps in the smooth conduct of operations in production and logistics. The social responsibility towards the community, by and large, ensures uninterrupted management of the manufacturing business.
What was your CSR spending for FY20? Could you brief us on what kind of CSR activities were done?
Our CSR spending for FY20 was Rs 7.38 crore for both the cement plants of Bharathi Cement, Kadapa Plant (Andhra Pradesh), and Kalburgi Cement, Kalaburagi Plant (Karnataka). Our CSR portfolio embarks upon infrastructure, healthcare, education, skill development, and contributions (like encouraging buddying sportspersons, disaster response, supporting Government health centres, etc.).
Some of our flagship projects include primary healthcare through telemedicine, standalone community dialysis unit for the poor, construction of individual sanitary latrines (ISL) for the needy under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, ISO certified Anganwadis, community waste management (SWM), providing safe drinking water through reverse osmosis plants in all the villages, child nutrition, nutritional supplementation for HIV/AIDS patients, etc.
What is your CSR budget for FY21?
Our CSR budget for FY21 is INR 7.51 Cr. Our reporting period is the calendar year ??January to December for two cement plants.
Please tell us about various partnerships/committee associations, if any, you are involved in CSR projects?
All our CSR projects are being implemented by a posse of NGOs which are domain experts in the ambit of project management. We strategically align with these partner NGOs after thorough due diligence in terms of demography, work experience in other terrains, technical know-how, sustainability quotient, reporting methodologies, and lastly and more importantly impact measurement. We have also aligned with various Government agencies like Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), etc., for unveiling CSR initiatives in the adopted communities.
During pandemic what CSR activities did you carry out and how has it helped you in sustaining and remaining competitive?
Coronavirus has hit the nation hard and Bharathi Cement swung into action to aid fellow citizens in many ways. We have contributed Rs 5 crore to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, contributed hi-flow nasal oxygen equipment to South Central Railway Hospital, Secunderabad during the first wave (March 2020-June 2020) and during the second wave (April 2021-June 2021) we have set up a 20 KL oxygen plant at Government General Hospital, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh worth Rs 60 lakh and donated oxygen concentrators for the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
What CSR framework or strategy do you have in place? What best practices do you follow to make it successful?
Bharathi cement has evolved a robust framework for CSR implementation much before the enactment of CSR laws in 2013 by the government. The ideology behind the CSR framework is to make the adopted villages as model villages in terms of infrastructure, healthcare, education, and empowerment. The framework entails bringing in a holistic social transformation of the communities living around the cement plants. A thorough need assessment is done in these villages before any project is unveiled. The best-ever NGOs are roped in to deliver these projects which have won many accolades nationally.
How important it is to evaluate and monitor CSR activities? How is it done?
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) are used to assess the performance of projects, with an objective to improve current and future management of outputs, outcomes, and impact. M&E forms the crux of the project implementation under CSR. Monitoring is checking progress against plans., evaluation is apprising data and information that influence strategic decisions, thus improving the project or programme in the future. The implementing partners (NGOs) are asked to submit quarterly reports depicting before and after impact studies which are reviewed by the management for corrective actions if any.
Please tell us about your future plans for CSR.
Our CSR trajectory embarks upon a sustainable and holistic social transformation encompassing core human development models. Our long-term goal is to forge ahead on the human development index by 2025. We envision an all-around development of the neighbourhood vicinity around the cement plant for long and healthy well-being, knowledgeable through the means of education and improved standard of living through our CSR interventions unveiled from time to time.
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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 agoon
November 18, 2022By
adminDr 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 agoon
October 12, 2022By
adminCarbon 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.