Economy & Market

The Indian growth story got a temporary jolt but it is bottoming out

Published

5 years ago

October 14, 2021

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Bidyut Bhattacharya, Chief Technical Director, Sinoma International Engg Co India Positive about the potential of the country, Bidyut Bhattacharya, Chief Technical Director, Sinoma International Engg Co India explains that though the Indian industry saw a bad patch on the road to economic growth, the way forward is still exciting. The mature cement industry can definitely make use of some policy changes that will put the industry back on track in 2014. Excerpts from the interview.

Has the economic slowdown impacted production capacity augmentation or the setting up of new cement plants?
There is no denying the fact that there was a serious economic slowdown in India, over the last couple of years, resulting in a dismal GDP growth rate. Consequently, cement consumption has suffered and created a large overcapacity situation. So it is natural that new cement capacity augmentation has not been too encouraging.

Are we in the state of cement production overcapacity?
Yes, we are in a state of overcapacity of cement for the time being. In the backdrop of sub five percent growth rate, rough estimates project a figure of as high as 80 to 100 million tonnes of overcapacity in the country. The situation is even more precarious in the southern belt.

What policy changes can help the cement industry regain momentum from the year 2014 onwards?
The first and foremost requirement would be to boost investor sentiment. Enabling polices and a stable vision for the future is equally mandatory. The low-capacity utilisation of already installed production lines is troubling. To improve cement consumption, the economic growth rate is vital. In this respect, we strongly feel that government spending and regulatory clearances of large infrastructure projects will play an important role to revive not only the cement industry but the overall economy as well. Housing sector is also vital for cement consumption.

One of the major reasons/excuses for the present day reduced level of capex spending on new projects lies in regulatory hurdles and inordinate delays in clearances. This needs to be taken care of.

Higher cost of borrowing is another impediment to new investments in this sector. For a supportive interest rate regime, food inflation specifically, needs to be controlled with particular focus on supply side bottlenecks.

Energy sourcing is another bottleneck for the cement sector. Cement plants are highly energy- intensive and require both thermal energy in form of coal (in the case of India) and electrical power. Quality/quantity and the cost of both these energies seem to be bothering the Indian cement industry. The issue of lower quality coal need to be addressed by blending imported high grade coal. Supply of more washed coal from CIL would help. For power, co-generation (through WHR technology) would give a big relief and should be made mandatory as it is in China. Usage of alternate fuels is also vital.

Which new design trends are we likely to see in cement plants and the supporting systems?
The Indian cement industry, over the years, has employed the best available technology for production. Thanks to a high degree of blended cement utilisation, Indian cement producers are at the forefront of fuel and electrical energy consumption on a per- tonne- of- product basis. An additional benefit in terms of sustainability is lower per tonne CO2 emission. Stricter regulatory requirements are leading increasingly towards greener technologies; and they, in turn, lead to further energy efficiency.

Utilising a Vertical Roller Mill (VRM) or roll press circuit in finish grinding mode for raw material grinding is the industry norm today, and it provides a significant energy cost reduction over the traditional closed circuit ball mill system. Likewise, for coal grinding also, a vertical mill is used. For the energy-intensive finish grinding process, the ball mill plus roll press system is widely popular. In specific cases where slag grinding is involved with high per cent moisture, VRM technology for finish grinding is used. Only in extreme cases today, do we get request for close circuit ball mill for grinding; it is inherently less energy efficient. High efficiency separators are standard today for all milling systems.As regards the pyro-processing area, Indian cement producers continuously strive to achieve the lowest specific fuel consumption along with high power saving. High efficiency fourth generation grate coolers are being utilised widely since they provide high recuperation efficiency along with lower maintenance interventions. As the total cooling air requirement reduces from the earlier 2.2Nm3/kg clinker to say, 1.8Nm3/kg clinker, there is a lot of savings through reduced exhaust air and fans power consumption. To achieve lower fuel consumption, six stage pre-heater systems is the popular choice along with in-line calciners. Advanced low NOx technologies are utilised in many cement plants. For process fans, a static efficiency = 82 per cent and use of variable speed drives reduces power consumption.

Do you see the demand for WHR systems growing in the future?
Waste Heat Recovery is slowly catching up in India. It is imperative to make WHR a mandatory requirement for any new cement plant, as is already the case in some countries. A significant portion of the energy requirement can be sourced through utilisation of waste heat from the pre-heater and cooler. In this context, Indian cement producers/consultants need to do a more specific, case to case basis, cost -benefit analysis for the six-stage vs. Five-stage pre-heater system, specifically when raw material moisture is high or when civil design parameters like wind speed/seismic conditions are not favourable. There is also the need to account for additional time taken for six- stage construction.

What is the scope for alternative fuels in cement plants?
Considering the dwindling quality/supply of domestic coal and logistic issues of imported supply, a variety of alternate fuels are being utilised cost-effectively. Not only Pet coke but a host of other materials from tyres to rice husk, plastic, sawdust are all being used. Utilisation of municipal wastes/sludge is still in its infancy in India primarily due to supply-side bottlenecks. It is worthwhile to mention here that cement pyro-processing systems are highly suitable for burning waste material, apart from contributing to the calorific value, due to the very high incineration temperature, close to 1,800 to 2,000deg C at the flame zone, higher residence time like five to six sec in calciners, assimilation of heavy metals in the clinker, negligible dust emission through kiln bag filters and dry dust curtains with high surface area in the pre-heater, etc.

What are your suggestions for improving energy efficiency in cement plants?
In terms of overall energy efficiency, we at Sinoma strongly recommend Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) from both the kiln and grate cooler. For the coolers themselves, we recommend fourth generation walking floor type or moving bar/S-type grate coolers. High efficiency, high momentum burner pipes are a must. Modern design low pressure drop high efficiency pre-heater cyclones also plays an important part. For grinding, we recommend the roll press and vertical mills depending upon the process and materials.

As an EPC service provider and supplier of critical plant and machinery what was 2013 like for you?
In the backdrop of poor growth rate and not much positive investor sentiment, 2013 was not a very encouraging year for the industry overall.

However, we are rather bullish on the India story. India cannot and shall not remain a sub 5 per cent growth rate country for long. The Indian growth story got a temporary jolt but is bottoming out. Already green shoots are visible. If we consider the stock markets reflect, at least to some extent, investor sentiment, clearly the sentiment is positive with indices hovering around all- time highs. Even events like the start of QE tapering made virtually no dent. The Indian currency stabilised rather quickly. Smart moves by the RBI in tackling the CAD issues have fortified confidence further. The expectation of a strong and stable government coming to power in May/June 2014, is boosting the overall outlook. Clearance of some high profile infrastructure projects through the Cabinet Committee is a big positive. With a favourable monsoon and the start of the harvesting season, easing of inflation expectations is widely anticipated.

Considering all this, we anticipate a much more exciting time from the second half of 2014 onwards.

Economy & Market

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

Published

1 week ago

April 27, 2026

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Jignesh Kundaria, Director and CEO, Fornnax Technology

India is simultaneously grappling with two crises: a mounting waste emergency and an urgent need to decarbonise its most carbon-intensive industries. The cement sector, the second-largest in the world and the backbone of the nation’s infrastructure ambitions, sits at the centre of both. It consumes enormous quantities of fossil fuel, and it has the technical capacity to consume something else entirely: the waste our cities cannot get rid of.

According to CPCB and NITI Aayog projections, India generates approximately 62.4 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with that figure expected to reach 165 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this waste is energy-rich and non-recyclable. At the same time, cement kilns operate at material temperatures of approximately 1,450 degrees Celsius, with gas temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees. This high-temperature environment is ideal for co-processing, ensuring the complete thermal destruction of organic compounds without generating toxic residues. The physics are in our favour. The infrastructure is not.

Pre-processing is not the support act for co-processing. It is the main event. Get the particle size wrong, get the moisture wrong, get the calorific value wrong and your kiln thermal stability will suffer the consequences.

The Regulatory Push Is Real

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 mandate that cement plants progressively replace solid fossil fuels with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), starting at a 5 per cent baseline and scaling to 15 per cent within six years. NITI Aayog’s 2026 Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation targets 20 to 25 per cent Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) by 2030. Beyond compliance, every tonne of coal replaced by RDF generates measurable carbon reductions which is monetisable under India’s emerging Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). TSR is no longer a sustainability metric. It is a financial lever.

Yet our own field assessments across multiple Indian cement plants reveal a sobering reality: the primary barrier to scaling AFR adoption is not waste availability. It is the fragmented and under-engineered pre-processing ecosystem that sits between the waste and the kiln.

Why Indian Waste Is a Different Engineering Problem

Indian municipal solid waste is not the material that imported shredding equipment was designed for. Our waste streams frequently exceed 40 per cent to 50 per cent moisture content, particularly during monsoon cycles, saturated with abrasive inerts including sand, glass, and stone. Plants relying on imported OEM equipment face months of downtime awaiting proprietary spare parts. Machines built for segregated, low-moisture waste fail quickly and disrupt the entire pre-processing operation in Indian conditions.

The two most common failures we observe are what I call the biting teeth problem and the chewing teeth problem. Plants relying solely on a primary shredder reduce bulk waste to large fractions, but the output remains too coarse for stable kiln combustion. Others attempt to use a secondary shredder as a standalone unit without a primary stage to pre-size the feed, leading to catastrophic mechanical failure. When both stages are present but mismatched in throughput capacity, the system becomes a bottleneck. Achieving the 40 to 70 tonnes per hour required for meaningful coal displacement demands a precisely coordinated two-stage process.

Engineering a Made-in-India Answer

At Fornnax, our response to these challenges is grounded in one principle: Indian waste demands Indian engineering. Our systems are built around feedstock homogeneity, the holy grail of kiln stability. Consistent particle size and predictable calorific value are the foundation of stable kiln combustion. Without them, no TSR target is achievable at scale.

Our SR-MAX2500 Dual Shaft Primary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive) processes raw, baled, or loosely mixed MSW, C&I waste, bulky waste, and plastics, reducing them to approximately 150 mm fractions at throughputs of up to 40 tonnes per hour. The R-MAX 3300 Single Shaft Secondary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive), introduced in 2025, takes that primary output and produces RDF fractions in the 30 to 80 mm range at up to 30 tonnes per hour, specifically optimised for consistent kiln feeding. We have also introduced electric drive configurations under the SR-100 HD series, with capacities between 5 and 40 tonnes per hour, already operational at a leading Indian waste-processing facility.

Looking ahead, Fornnax is expanding its portfolio with the upcoming SR-MAX3600 Hydraulic Drive primary shredder at up to 70 tonnes per hour and the R-MAX2100 Hydraulic drive secondary shredder at up to 20 tonnes per hour, designed specifically for the large-scale throughput that higher TSR ambitions require.

The Investment Case Is Now

The 2070 Net-Zero target is not a distant goal for India’s cement sector. It starts today, with decisions being made on the plant floor.

The SWM Rules 2026 are already in effect, requiring cement plants to replace coal with RDF. Carbon credit markets are opening up, and coal prices are not going to get cheaper. Every tonne of coal a cement plant replaces with waste-derived fuel saves money on one side and generates carbon credit revenue on the other. Pre-processing infrastructure is no longer just a compliance requirement. It is a business investment with a measurable return.

The good news is that nothing is missing. The technology works. The waste is available in every Indian city. The government has provided the policy direction. The only thing standing between where the industry is today and where it needs to be is the commitment to build the right infrastructure.

The cement companies that move now will not just meet the regulations. They will be ahead of every competitor that waits.

About The Author

Jignesh Kundaria is the Director and CEO of Fornnax Technology. Over an experience spanning more than two decades in the recycling industry, he has established himself as one of India’s foremost voices on waste-to-fuel technology and alternative fuel infrastructure.

Concrete

WCA Welcomes SiloConnect as associate corporate member

Published

3 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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

Concrete

TotalEnergies and Holcim Launch Floating Solar Plant in Belgium

Published

3 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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