Economy & Market

The realtors experience will be limited to their markets.

Published

5 years ago

October 14, 2021

admin

Location, location, location. Is it all that matters in realty? Ram Raheja, Director & Head-Architecture at S Raheja Realty, knows that every area and every project is different and calls for a customised strategy. In the so-called sluggish realty market, S Raheja Realty delivers projects on time, with a range that has something for everyone. Ram Raheja shares his enthusiasm about his projects and his positive outlook with ICR. Excerpts from the interview.

Tell us a bit about S Raheja Realty.
S Raheja Realty is a part of the same Raheja group. My grandfather and his three brothers launched Raheja Brothers in the 1950s. Eventually in the 1970s, the company first split; now there are about seven to eight Raheja companies in the market. Raheja Realty started with my grandfather Girdharidas Raheja, then it was handled by his son Shyam Raheja and now, I run it. We are a third generation real estate group.

We have four very distinct sectors in our group, one being redevelopment in different parts of Mumbai. We have recently launched two sites, while another one was launched at the beginning of the year.

Then we have the other sector, which is corporate development. In corporate development, one example is the Hinduja Health Care in Khar; that was done completely by us, including land procurement, liasoning for approvals, construction, f architecture, interiors, finishing, up to giving the clients the complete finished product in the stipulated time period. Another example is in Mahim, where we have a 22-storey tower under construction.

Our third sector is mid-income housing. We call it luxury mid- income housing as we are building it in the most prime locations of cities, for example Palghar, Varanasi, etc.

In Palghar, we have just finished the Raheja Pride, Phase-I, which we launched last year. We finished it in about one Ã»and- a- half years, again a completely luxurious standard compared to anything you can get in the city. For this project, we have from imported tiles, modular kitchens, landscaped gardens and more.

The fourth sector of our group is building second homes, luxury second homes outside Mumbai. For example, we have finished a project in the Pune region. We also have a project under construction right now, Raheja Cascades in Lonavala.

We hear realtors speaking about the slow down in the market. Do you feel that the demand for real estate is subsiding?
It totally differs from area to area, project to project. There are areas which have a good demand and good supply. For example in Mumbai itself, you cannot take Mumbai as an entire one single real estate market. Mumbai has different areas which actually run their own market and where it has its own real estate sector, its demands, its own supply dynamics, its own economics. Lower Parel is a market on its own and so is Lokhandwala or Kalina. So, every area is unique in its own context because of the segregation of our city and the experience of realtors will be limited to their markets. The price ranges vary widely from one area to the other,sometimes within a ten-minute drive between each area. I would say the market is slow in areas where the supply is in excess and the demand is limited.

So choosing a location becomes all the more important today.
Yes, we are very careful in choosing the location, making sure that there is a need for housing with limited supply.

Tell us about the new projects that you will be launching soon.
We have another other 400 units in Palghar, which we will be launching soon. We have a large- scale project coming up in Lonavala next to our Raheja Cascades. Raheja Cascades was launched about a month ago and now we are launching Natraj and Gurukripa both in Kalina. We have a few more redevelopment projects that we will be launching next year. Then again, we do not launch until all our approvals and everything else is in place.

In general, what are the challenges faced by the realty sector in India?
The input costs for everything has gone up. Also, the markets have become very uncertain now. There is uncertainty in the stock market, uncertainty about the political scenario. This increases the cost of our products. It is difficult for buyers to make a decision in such a volatile environment.

What are your expectations from the government?
Speed and clarity in the approval and regulatory process.

A lot of realtors are trying to attract buyers by launching green buildings. What are green buildings?
It can mean a lot of things, that is why today you have certifications. It can mean that the materials used in the construction are green. One has to choose and decide on what aspect of the building could be made sustainable. Internationally you get cycle parking locations in a green building. Now in projects like these in India, rarely do people ride a cycle. So you know it just depends on what is actually viable in terms of making it a green building. You can have modern sustainable bricks, to traditional methods of cross-ventilation which is the most traditional form of saving energy, or you can create an architecture with better natural lighting. I would go back to the original form of architecture like that seen in the Hawa Mahal which creates cross-ventilation.

In a city like Mumbai, you can go into things like sustainable material, rainwater harvesting, solar panel, etc.

Growth of sustainable architecture/ Green buildings

The current penetration of green building in the country is 5% (1,909 buildings). However, it is gaining momentum and could account for 20% of all constructions by 2030. Today, Maharashtra tops the national figure with the highest number of green buildings, followed by the National Capital Region. Tamil Nadu holds third position.
The cost implications involved in developing green building properties are higher by 10-15 per cent than regular construction costs. However, they involve major long- term benefits
The demand-supply scenario
16,053 houses have been put on draw to 11.25 lakh applicants. This only shows that the city is facing an acute shortage of affordable housing and it has become imperative for builders to explore ways to stock mid-cap houses. Builders are now looking at developing the Charkop, Kandivli, Malvani, Palghar areas.

Ram Raheja is responsible for architecture and design departments within the organisation. He has over eight years of comprehensive experience in all phases of architectural services and design in India and abroad.

S Raheja Realty is an integral part of Indias real estate landscape. The promoters are three generations into real estate with a focus on luxury residential and commercial development in Mumbai. In the recent decade, they have ventured into affordable housing in mini metros and second tier cities, delivering quality lifestyles at affordable prices. Today, S Raheja continues to revolutionise the real estate industry with an intuitive vision to incorporate evolved architectural practices and develop projects that are sustainable and secure.

Project highlights: Cascade- luxury villa project;
Palghar Prime- affordable housing project, S2 Mahim & Hinduja Healthcare; Khar- corporate development; several re-development projects in Khar, Kalina & Bandra, Tier- II projects in Pune and Varanasi.

Economy & Market

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

Published

1 week ago

April 27, 2026

admin

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

admin

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

admin

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.