Economy & Market

Safety is at the centre of everything that we do

Published

4 years ago

February 1, 2022

admin

Perumal Jagatheesan, Safety Head, HeidelbergCement India and Zuari Cement, discusses the safety norms and standards at a cement plant, while underscoring the importance of training, safety protocols and practices and the use of technology at a cement plant.

How would you define a safe cement plant? What are the major areas of concern for safety in the cement work environment?
Safety in cement plant starts from its design itself, carrying out proper layout and machinery safety protection. It is designed to limit the risk to personnel for accident or injury. Different hazards involved in the process starts from extracting limestone from mines to dispatching the cement. Robust safety management system implementation is vital for safe cement plant to mitigate the hazards involved in blasting activity in mines, heavy mobile equipment, heavy crushing machineries, material transporting systems and clicker production.
Various hazards includes: blasting and mining of limestone, high temperatures in pre-heater tower (as high as 900 degrees centigrade), storage of coal in sheds, cement grinding, heavy inbound and outbound truck movements carrying all raw materials and the product from the plant etc.
Safety management system includes risk assessment and control measures for all the processing activities, well designed permit system, safeguarded machineries, firefighting systems, clean workplace, safety audit, trained and competent manpower are important elements to have safe cement plant. Major areas of concerns are the maintenance work in confined space, pre-heater cyclones and silos, work at height jobs, materials transportation systems, heavy mobile equipment and truck movement are major risks in a cement plant operation.

What are the key challenges in ensuring safety at a cement plant?
People in any industry do not appreciate to work in a hazardous work environment. Hence, our slogan “Someone in waiting for you at home” explains well about itself.
The manufacturing and distribution of cement is a high-risk enterprise but creating safe work environment in the cement industry is achievable. There are many causes of accidents in cement industry, however there are three major areas that can lead to serious incidents.

Traffic and mobile equipment: Traffic is caused from inbound and outbound trucks. Mobile equipment are dumpers that bring limestone from mines to crushers. Rigorous intra and inter plant movement of traffic is an area of major risk.
Fall from height and falling objects
Moving/Starting Equipment

Some of other more serious hazards include working in confined spaces and working with hot materials in the pre-heater.
There are several key-factors to achieving sustainable safety in the cement industry we have implemented the following health and safety initiatives at all our HeidelbergCement India plants to keep the safety momentum and safety awareness throughout out the year. We have monthly safety gate meeting, monthly safety theme and communication, plant safety star award program which is once in four months, strict compliance of our safety cardinal rules, safety zone system, hazard identification and risk assessment control measures, work permits and procedures, safety inspections and audits, fire prevention and protection, accident and near miss incident reporting, and investigation to identify the root cause along with implementation of corrective actions with training on lessons learned across the HeidelbergCement India plants.
For example, of a near miss incident or any incident happened at any plant, incident learnings will be communicated across all HC India Plants to take appropriate corrective actions if similar unsafe situation exists in their plant.
Mock drill and emergency handling, safety induction and behavior safety training for workers at all our plants, award and penalty system, review of safety system for continual improvement, safety conversation with workmen by line managers, and monitoring implementation by inspecting and auditing controls to ensure they are working as expected by the company. Ensuring operating process and training materials are updated regularly and incase of any new process/system added in the plant. These are the various safety management systems to ensure safety in operation and maintenance of the plants.

What is your first response in case of hazard in the plant?
Our first response would be to immediately isolate the hazard, to prevent personal interference or people going in the proximity of the hazard.
Hazards can be classified into three categories that is low, medium and major.
When a major hazard occurs, we immediately stop the work and take the corrective action immediately. During such circumstances, the area is isolated, and the operational team is called to discuss and make corrective and preventive actions in the stipulated target time.

Tell us more about the personal safety equipment used in the plant by working professionals.
In safety management system, personal protective equipment (PPE) is the last line of defense to prevent injuries, but it is very essential and mandatory. In the hierarchy of most effective controls to least effective controls are, the first one is elimination, which means physically remove the hazard. Second one is substitution, which means replace the hazard. Third one is engineering controls, which means isolate people from hazard by providing guarding. Fourth one is administrative controls, that includes change the way people work. Last control is the personal protective equipment (PPE) which protect the worker. PPE will not prevent the accidents from happening, but certainly it will reduce the severity of injury.
We have mandatory PPE and job specific PPE. Mandatory PPEs are required for people entering the plant including the visitors. Mandatory PPEs are safety shoes, safety helmet with chinstrap, safety goggles and high visibility waist jacket. Then comes PPE for specific jobs, like for a worker working at more than 1.8 meters height should have a full body harness with shock absorber with a double lanyard. For gas cutting, safety goggles, apron, hand gloves. For welding work, welders face shield, apron, leg guard, hand gloves. Similarly, we have implemented specific PPEs for every work that is being done at our factory.

Do hazards often happen in a cement plant or are they a rarity?
In all our plants we have a plant safety advisor. When the plant is in operation, a process related hazard can happen in rare occasions, however, any individual can unknowingly initiate the unsafe act giving rise to an incident.
To perform any maintenance work, ‘Permit to Work’ needs to be obtained from the authorized personnel. Before closing the permit, it must be ensured that all equipment guards and Protections are in place. If that is missed, it can give rise to a hazard. If any safety cardinal rules violation observed in the plant, a warning letter is issued to the concerned engineer/manager to correct his behavior and to prevent repeat occurrence of similar major hazards in future.

What are major health concerns cement plant employees face as an occupational hazard?
Cement industry plays a vital role in development of the country and create employment opportunities. Adding to it, safe workplace in cement industry is also one of the important factors to prevent occupational health diseases.
Cement plant workers are exposed to different types of hazards such as fume, gas, and dust which are risk factors to developing occupational diseases. The manufacturing units of a cement factory such as raw mill, preheater, kiln, coal mill, cement mill, cement storage silos, cement packaging section are point sources of pollution or dust emission. Exposure to cement dust leads to respiratory issues, also affecting skin and eyes. It also depends on the duration of a person exposed in the dust.
However, we as a responsible corporate ensure utmost care for our employees by ensuring proper use of PPEs along with installation of proper dust / fume / gas controlling equipment’s. We believe that all employees should come smiling to our establishment should go back home smiling.

Tell us about the key precautions one must take while working in the cement plants to avoid the occupational hazards.
We should have efficient dust control system at source to collect the dust (an engineering control method) i.e. baghouse dust collector, electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and a belt conveyer hood suppression system, water sprinkling on roads and ensuring good housekeeping on regular basis to control dust and to prevent occupational health diseases. These are some of the systems that all cement plants will have to prevent dust emission.
These must be maintained on regular basis to keep them in good working order and conduct air monitoring to measure worker exposures and ensure that controls are providing adequate protection to workers. Not only maintaining the system but we also have to measure the level of dust in the plant ensuring it is with in the statutory limit. If it exceeds the limit, actions must be taken to reduce the emission in the factory. As the last defense, we must provide and ensure the usage of suitable dust masks for all the workers for preventing the dust inhalation.

Can you tell us about a safety issue that occurred in any of your plants and how was it managed?
A workman used to stand on the top of the truck for doing tarpaulin to cover them post loading and removing the tarpaulin for unloading which bring raw materials to the factory. This involves risk of the workman slipping and falling from height. To eliminate this risk, we have provided safe access platforms with fall protection arrangement at all our plants. There would be a platform with a staircase, from where access is provided to the truck top, and from the center point we have given a lifeline across the truck with a full body harness to the workers.

What are the safety trainings provided to your employees? Could take us through
the process?
For all new employees and workmen joining the organization, we have a safety induction training module that covers all the safety rules and regulations of the plant. We also have a safety movie, shot in our own plant, that we show to our workers during safety induction training before issuing them a plant entry gate pass.
For work at height jobs, we conduct height phobia test to ensure that the worker doesn’t have a fear during working at heights. We have a mock structure where a workman is sent to a height and his blood pressure is checked before going up and after coming down. The doctor tells us with his blood pressure if they have passed the test. Those who pass are given the height work pass.
Training on safety behavior and training on lockout, tagout, tryout which is an electrical isolation work permit system, training on confined space, safety toolbox before starting the job, job specific training, firefighting training, training on safety standards etc. We have group safety standards for work at height, confined space work, electrical isolation (LOTOTO) and machine guarding.

Tell us about some of the good safety practices implemented in your HC India plants?
Occupational health and safety are the core value of our company and safety is at the center of everything that we do-from the daily routines in our plants. We are desired to conduct our business with “Zero Harm” to the people we work with and we strive to create a healthy and safe work environment for all our employees, contractors, and stakeholders. We believe that we are good in safety and we are good in
achieving new milestones in business. Safety is a critical success factor for all operational performance and is integrated in all business decisions including greenfield and brownfield projects and employee performance evaluation.

Safety cardinal rules

There are “Safety Cardinal Rules” that all employees and contractors working with us must comply and follow:
All personal protective equipment (PPE) required for a given task must be properly used.
Equipment must be properly isolated from all inherent energy sources and must be tested to ensure it cannot start or move prior to conducting any task.
Safeguards must be in place before the equipment is started or restarted.
Entry into confined spaces is only allowed for competent persons and with a permit to work signed by the responsible superior.
All occupational incidents are reported and investigated to identify the root causes and to set up corrective actions and lessons learned.
Driving for the company is done in strict accordance with the local laws and company requirements.

Monthly safety theme
We have a monthly safety theme launching system. Across all plants, on the first day of each month, respective plant manager launches the theme for the month between a gathering of workers. The catalogue gives details of the risk, it causes, and mitigation measures is printed in a regional language and distributed to all workers. The aim is to see that every relevant worker gets covered and made aware of the risks and mitigating measures. Benefits noticed from the monthly safety theme program from all plants is rise in safety awareness among the workers on the potential risk and mitigation measures.

Plant Safety Star Award Programme:
Plant Safety Star Award programme is unique to HC India initiated by the people and for the people. It identifies people having high regard for safety and are role models for others. Plant safety stars are selected from the workman level through the process of nomination followed by written examination covering topics related to health and safety rules and regulations. The nominations are done by fellow workman, and the one who secures maximum score is declared the Safety Star of the plant in the given trimester. Attractive gifts and award are presented to the winner by Managing Director and Director Technical in presence of all the workforce in the plant and address the gathering to motivate and enhancing the safety culture.

Safety zone system:
HC India encourages employee engagement where they achieve the sense of pride for having shouldered the responsibility of ensuring that everyone returns home safely to be with their loved ones. The entire plant is divided into zones depending on site conditions considering its layout, activities performed, ease of accessibility and monitoring. For each zone a head is chosen who selects representatives from all departments located in the safety zone headed by him. The area under each zone is further divided and allotted to each member responsible for specified section. By such divisions, communication will be more effective with a sense to communicate the hazards and risks to all the people in the zone. Increase the level of safety awareness and identify unsafe behavior to ensure compliance to best safety practices, highlight the near misses, incidents and share the learning, improve and sustain good housekeeping practices. So, the safety zone system is very effective in case of maintaining good housekeeping in the plant. Our tagline is, ‘Someone is waiting for you at home’.

What is the role of technology and automation in safeguarding the cement making process?
Considering the safety aspect, safety interlock switches are used to prevent machine operation or start up in an unsafe situation. Like, the guard is provided with interlock switch, equipment will stops working if the rotating part guard is open.

How frequently does you plant have safety audits and who does them?
All our manufacturing plants are certified under ISO 45001-2018 Occupational health and safety management system certified by TUV SUD South Asia Private limited. The safety audits are conducted by TUV external auditors once in a year and by an internal auditor once in 6 months. Also, in all the plants safety inspections are conducted by Head Safety once in three months. Daily, plant safety advisors carry out plant safety inspections in order to observe the physical conditions of work and the work practices / procedures followed by the workers. The safety advisors also render advice on measures to be adopted for removing unsafe physical conditions while at the same time preventing unsafe actions by workers and apprise the same to the factory manager on regular basis.

-Kanika Mathur

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Concrete

Filtration Technology is Critical for Efficient Logistics

Published

4 days ago

May 15, 2026

admin

Niranjan Kirloskar, MD, Fleetguard Filters, makes the case that filtration technology, which has been long treated as a routine consumable, is in fact a strategic performance enabler across every stage of cement production and logistics.

India’s cement industry forms the core for infrastructure growth of the country. With an expected compound annual growth rate of six to eight per cent, India has secured its position as the second-largest cement producer globally. This growth is a result of the increasing demand across, resulting in capacity expansion. Consequently, cement manufacturers are now also focusing on running the factories as efficiently as possible to stay competitive and profitable.
While a large portion of focus still remains on production technologies and capacity utilisation, the hidden factor in profitability is the efficiency of cement logistics. The logistics alone account for nearly 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the total cost of cement, making efficiency in this segment a key lever for profitability and reliability.
In the midst of this complex and high-intensity ecosystem, filtration often remains one of the most underappreciated yet essential enablers of performance.

A demanding operational landscape
Cement production and logistics inherently operate in some of the harshest industrial environments. With processes such as quarrying, crushing, grinding, clinker production, and bulk material handling expose the machinery to constant high temperatures, heavy loads, and dust, often the silent destructive force for engines.
The ecosystem is abrasive, and often one with a high contamination index. These challenging conditions demand equipment such as the excavators, crushers, compressors, and transport vehicles to perform and perform efficiently. The continuous exposure to contamination across every aspect like air, fuel, lubrication, and even hydraulic systems causes long-term damage. Studies have also shown that 70 to 80 per cent of hydraulic system failures are directly linked to contamination, while primary cause of engine wear is inadequate air filtration.
For engines as heavy as these, even a minor contaminant has a cascading effect; reducing efficiency, performance and culminating to unplanned downtime. Particles as small as 5 to 10 microns, far smaller than a human hair (~70 microns), can cause significant damage to critical engine components. In an industry where margins are closely linked to operational efficiency, such disruptions can significantly affect both cost structures and delivery timelines.

Dust management: A persistent challenge
Dust is a natural by-product in cement operations. From drilling and blasting in the quarries to packing in plants, this fine particulate matter does occupy a large space in operations. Dust concentration levels in quarry and crushing zones often create extremely high particulate exposure for equipment. These fine particles, when enter the engines and critical systems, accelerates the wear and tear of the component, affecting directly the operational efficiency. Over time every block fall; engine performance declines, fuel consumption rises, and maintenance cycles shorten. In this case, effective air filtration is the natural first line of defence. Advanced filtration systems are designed to capture high volumes of particulate matter while maintaining consistent airflow, ensuring that engines and equipment operate under optimal conditions.
In high-dust applications, as in cement production, even the filtration systems are expected to sustain performance over extended periods without the need of frequent replacement. This becomes crucial in remote quarry locations where access to frequent maintenance may be limited.

Fluid cleanliness and system integrity
Beyond air filtration, fluid systems also play a crucial role for equipment reliability in cement operations. Fuel systems are required to remain free from contaminants for efficient working of combustion and injection protection. Additionally, lubrication systems also need to maintain the oil purity to reduce friction and prevent any premature wear of moving parts. The hydraulic systems, which are key to several heavy equipment operations, are especially sensitive to contamination.
If fine particles or water enters these systems, it can lead to reduced efficiency, erratic performance, and eventual failure of the system. Modern filtration systems are designed with high-efficiency media capable of removing extremely fine contaminants, with advanced fuel and oil filtration solutions filtering particles as small as two to five microns. Multi-stage filtration systems further ensure that fluid performance is maintained even under challenging operating conditions.
Another critical aspect of fuel systems is water separation. Removing moisture helps prevent corrosion, improves combustion efficiency and enhances overall engine reliability. Modern water separation technologies can achieve over 95 per cent efficiency in removing water from fuel systems.

Ensuring reliability across the value chain
Filtration plays a critical role across every stage of cement logistics:
• Quarry operations: Equipment operates in highly abrasive environments, requiring strong protection against dust ingress and hydraulic contamination.
• Processing units: Crushers, kilns, and grinding mills depend on clean lubrication and cooling systems to sustain continuous operations.
• Material handling systems: Pneumatic and mechanical systems rely on clean air and fluid systems for efficiency and reliability.
• Transportation networks: Bulk carriers and trucks must maintain engine health and fuel efficiency to ensure timely deliveries.
Across these operations, filtration plays a vital role; as it supports consistent equipment performance while reducing the risk of unexpected failures.
Effective filtration solutions can reduce unscheduled equipment failures by 30 to 50 per cent across heavy-duty operations.

Uptime as a strategic imperative
In cement manufacturing, uptime is currency. Downtime not only delays the production, but it also greatly impacts the supply commitments and logistics planning. With the right filtration systems, contaminants are kept at bay from entering the
critical systems, and they also significantly extend the service intervals.
Optimised filtration can extend service intervals by 20 to 40 per cent, reducing maintenance frequency while maintaining consistent performance across demanding operating conditions. Filtration systems designed for heavy-duty applications sustain efficiency throughout their lifecycle, ensuring reliable protection with minimal interruptions. This leads to improved equipment availability, lower maintenance costs, and more predictable operations, with well-maintained systems capable of achieving uptime levels of over 90 to 95 per cent in challenging cement environments.

Supporting emission and sustainability goals
With the rising environmental awareness, the cement industry too is aligning with the stricter norms and sustainability targets. In this scenario, the operational efficiency is directly linked to emission control.

Air and fuel systems that are clean enable
much more efficient combustion. They also reduce emissions from both the stationary equipment and transport fleets. Similarly, with a well-maintained fluid cleanliness, emission systems function better. Poor combustion due to contamination can increase emissions by 5 to 10 per cent, making clean systems critical for compliance.
Additionally, efficient and longer lasting filtration systems significantly reduce any waste generation and contribute to increased sustainable maintenance practices. Extended-life filtration solutions can reduce filter disposal and maintenance waste by 15 to 20 per cent. Smart and efficient filtration in this case plays an important role in meeting the both regulatory and environmental objectives within the industry.

Advancements in filtration technology
Over the years, there has been a significant evolution in the filtration technology to meet the modern industrial applications.
Key developments include:
• High-efficiency filtration media capable of capturing very fine particles without restricting flow
• Compact and integrated designs that combine multiple filtration functions
• Extended service life solutions that reduce replacement frequency and maintenance downtime
• Application-specific engineering tailored to different stages of cement operations
Modern multi-layer filtration media can improve dust-holding capacity by up to two to three times compared to conventional systems, while maintaining consistent performance. These advancements have transformed filtration from a basic maintenance component into a critical performance system.

Adapting to diverse operating conditions
The cement industry of India operates across diverse geographies. Spanning across regions with arid regions with higher dust levels, to the coastal areas with higher humidity, challenges of each region pose different threats to the engines. Modern filtration systems are thus tailored to address these unique challenges of each region.
Indian operating environments often range from 0°C to over 50°C, with some of the highest dust loads globally in mining zones.
Additionally, filtration technology can also be customised to variations which then align the system design with factors like dust load, temperature, and equipment usage patterns. Equipment utilisation levels in India are typically higher than global averages, making robust filtration even more critical. This approach ensures optimal performance and durability across different operational contexts.

Impact on total cost of ownership
Filtration has a direct and measurable impact on the total cost of ownership of equipment.
Effective filtration leads to:
• Lower wear and tear on critical components
• Reduced maintenance and repair costs
• Improved fuel efficiency
• Extended equipment life
• Higher operational uptime
Effective filtration can extend engine life by 20 to 30 per cent and reduce overall maintenance costs by 15 to 25 per cent over the equipment lifecycle. These benefits collectively enhance productivity and reduce lifecycle costs. Conversely, inadequate filtration can result in frequent breakdowns, increased maintenance expenditure, and reduced asset utilisation.

Building a more efficient cement ecosystem
With the rising demand across various sectors, the cement industry is expected to expand at an unprecedented rate. This growth is forcing the production to move towards a more efficient and resilient system of operations. This requires attention not only to production technologies but also to the supporting systems that enable consistent performance. Filtration must be viewed as a strategic investment rather than a routine consumable. By ensuring the cleanliness of air and fluids across systems, it supports reliability, efficiency, and sustainability.

The road ahead
The future of cement logistics will be shaped by increasing mechanisation, digital monitoring, and stricter environmental standards. The industry is also witnessing a shift towards predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, where filtration performance is increasingly integrated with real-time equipment diagnostics.
In this evolving landscape, the role of filtration will become even more critical. As equipment becomes more advanced and operating conditions more demanding, the need for precise contamination control will continue to grow. From quarry to construction site, filtration technology underpins the performance of every critical system. It enables equipment to operate efficiently, reduces operational risks, and supports the industry’s broader goals of growth and sustainability. In many ways, it is the unseen force that keeps the cement ecosystem moving, quietly ensuring that every link in the value chain performs as expected.

About the author
Niranjan Kirloskar, Managing Director, Fleetguard Filters, is focused on driving innovation, operational excellence, and long-term business growth through strategic and people-centric leadership. With a strong foundation in ethics and forward-thinking decision-making, he champions a culture of collaboration, accountability, and technological advancement.

Concrete

Cement’s Next Fuel Shift

Published

4 days ago

May 15, 2026

admin

Jignesh Kindaria highlights how Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) is emerging as a critical lever for cost savings, decarbonisation and competitive advantage in the cement industry.

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

Dalmia Bharat Cement launches water repellent cement brand Weather 365 in Eastern India

Published

4 days ago

May 15, 2026

admin

The company has introduced water repellent cement to target rising consumer demand for weather-resilient housing solutions.

New Delhi, May 15, 2026

Dalmia Bharat Cement, one of India’s leading cement manufacturing companies, has launched Weather 365, a new super-premium water repellent cement brand aimed at addressing growing consumer demand for durable, weather-resistant construction materials in Eastern India. The product is positioned as a high-performance offering for consumers seeking long-term protection against seepage, dampness and moisture damage. The launch marks a strategic push by Dalmia Bharat Cement into the fast-growing premium cement segment, where consumer preference is increasingly shifting from price-led purchases to specialised, performance-oriented building materials.

Reinforcing its super-premium positioning, the product will be available in premium-quality water-resistant and tamper-proof BOPP packaging. ‘Weather 365’ will be introduced across its retail markets in West Bengal and Bihar.

In addition to the product rollout, the company will provide on-site technical support through its engineering and technical services teams to guide customers on best construction practices and improve long-term building performance.

Speaking on the launch, company spokesperson from Dalmia Bharat Cement said: “Weather 365 is a testament to Dalmia Bharat Cement’s relentless pursuit of innovation. Eastern India experiences prolonged monsoons, high humidity and challenging weather conditions that significantly impact the life of buildings and homes. Consumers today are actively looking for solutions that offer long-term protection and lower maintenance costs. Weather 365 is our answer to that need – a differentiated premium product that combines structural strength with advanced moisture protection that safeguards homes at every level, every season. We believe this category will see strong growth in the coming years.”

Weather 365 is a specialised cement product developed to meet the rigorous demands of modern construction in regions exposed to high humidity, heavy rainfall and extreme weather cycles. Designed for roofs, columns and foundations, it delivers end-to-end moisture protection across the entire home from the structure’s core to its visible surfaces. Its proprietary uniform water repellent technology helps reduce water penetration, minimize steel corrosion in RCC structures while preventing efflorescence and damp patches, thereby ensuring stronger concrete, improved paint life and long-lasting structural health. Positioned as a super-premium product in Dalmia Bharat Cement’s portfolio, Weather 365 targets discerning homeowners, contractors and builders who seek the best-in-class protection for their construction investments.

With a strong manufacturing and market presence across Eastern India, Dalmia Bharat Cement continues to strengthen its footprint in one of its key strategic markets. As the company advances towards its vision of becoming a pan-India cement leader, it remains focused on delivering innovative, premium construction solutions tailored to evolving consumer needs.

Dalmia Bharat Cement, a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Limited, is a leading player in the cement manufacturing segment and has been in existence since 1939. It is the first cement company to commit to RE100, EP100 & EV100 (first triple joiner) – showing real business leadership in the clean energy transition by taking a joined-up approach. With a growing capacity, currently pegged at 49.5 million tonne, Dalmia Bharat Cement is the fourth-largest cement manufacturing group in India by installed capacity. Spread across ten states and fifteen manufacturing units, the company is a category leader in super-specialist cement used for oil well, railway sleepers and airstrips and is the country’s largest producer of Portland Slag Cement (PSC).