Concrete

Being Proactive about Sustainability

Hard-hitting facts such as scarcity and price hike of fossil fuels and challenges of waste management warn of difficult times ahead for the Indian cement industry, unless the players increase their efforts at increasing the capacity of Waste Heat Recovery Systems to meet their energy requirements.

Published

4 years ago

April 14, 2022

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Waste heat recovery has long been the base standard for setting up cement manufacturing units. In China, a cement kiln will not get an official sign-off unless it has waste heat recovery systems. In Europe, any industry requiring large quantities of heat input for manufacturing must have waste heat recovery as a natural corollary, and sometimes its use could be extended to providing heat input to the neighbourhood and community for simple needs such as room and water heating systems.

The economics of Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS) is preceded by sustainability concerns, as cement manufacturing in kilns continues to produce 8 per cent of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The conversion of limestone to clinker is where the bulk of the heat energy is expended. However, this bulk of heat energy that is generated in six-stage preheater kilns by burning of any fossil fuel input actually gets wasted as shown in the pie-chart Fig 1, and only 58 per cent is used in the conversion process yielding clinker.

Theoretically 710 Kcal needs to be generated to convert 1 kg of clinker, out of which actual conversion process would need 410 Kcal, the rest ending up as losses, which can be recovered. In reality, the Indian cement industry average is 744 Kcal of heat input for producing 1 kg of clinker, which means the actual losses are even more than the theoretical possibility.

Out of the total generated heat there are some unavoidable losses, that include radiation loss, loss for evaporation of residual moisture in fine coal and raw meal and some part of heat going with clinker from cooler. The balance loss in pre-heater exhaust gases and the cooler exhaust gases are completely recoverable through WHRS.

Let us look at some statistics from the Indian cement industry. On an average, Indian cement plants require electrical power of 20 billion kWh per year. The coal needed for generating this much power accounts to 32 million tonnes per year. A significant portion of this power could be replaced by the WHRS that will use waste heat from the kilns to generate electricity.

In sustainability terms, this is equivalent to replacing a large component of the 32 million tonnes of coal to be otherwise burnt for producing electricity. WHRS are also very stable systems that operate on the Rankine cycle and it provides an avenue for utilising waste water from the process as well.

Balancing the investments

Let us now see the economics of putting up a captive power generating unit versus putting up a WHRS. The capital investment for WHRS is high at Rs 8 cr per MW going by the current costs, whereas the CPP units can come at Rs 4.5 cr per MW. However, the project Internal Rate of Return (IRR) would be very different as the cost of generation would be as low as Rs 0.40 per unit for the former while Rs 4.5 per unit for the latter, which given the current trajectory of fossil fuel prices is already under severe stress of upward correction. It is only the initial cost that continues to act as a deterrent for putting up a waste heat recovery unit.

The Indian cement industry must act responsibly and move quickly to put in investments that could raise the waste heat recovery installed capacity to cross the minimum threshold of 25 per cent of electricity consumption. That will still be far from the 20 billion KWhr of total electricity consumption by the industry.
The other area of concern is the price trajectory of fossil fuels, which would continue to move northwards. WHRS is one of the simpler ways of insulating the industry from the vagaries of future price increases.

Thus WHRS could be the natural hedge to fossil fuel price increases for a substantial portion of the electrical consumption. As matters stand today most WHRS would be the highest IRR projects that the industry as an ensemble can think of.

-Procyon Mukherjee

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Concrete

UltraTech to Deploy 600+ Electric Trucks by Dec 2026

Cement major expands green logistics to cut emissions across supply chain

Published

4 hours ago

September 3, 2026

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UltraTech Cement Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company, plans to expand its electric vehicle fleet in logistics operations to more than 600 EV trucks by December 2026, strengthening its green transport initiatives.

The company has signed service agreements with leading EV prime mover manufacturers, including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, IPLTech, Energy in Motion and Sany, along with their subsidiaries and logistics partners, for deploying electric trucks.

The expanded fleet will transport around five million MT of clinker and other key materials annually across Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha. Once operational, the fleet is expected to reduce annual CO₂ emissions by over 1,17,000 tonnes and replace nearly 39 million litres of diesel consumption.

K C Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Limited, said the company is extending sustainability beyond its manufacturing plants by adopting greener logistics solutions and decarbonising its value chain.

UltraTech has been among the early adopters of sustainable transport in the cement sector, introducing CNG trucks in 2021 and electric trucks in 2024. The company currently operates more than 850 trucks under its green logistics programme, including CNG and electric vehicles.

With a grey cement capacity exceeding 200 MTPA in India, UltraTech is integrating electrification across its logistics network, covering mine-to-plant movement and inter-plant transportation of clinker and other materials.

Concrete

UltraTech Cement expands green logistics with 600+ electric truck fleet

Published

6 hours ago

September 3, 2026

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The e-truck fleet will be used to transport five million MT of clinker and other key materials with potential of over 1,17,000 tonnes of net annual CO₂ reduction, displacing the equivalent of 39 million litres of diesel per year.

Mumbai

UltraTech Cement Limited, an Aditya Birla Group company and the world’s largest cement company by sales volume and capacity outside China, has announced that it will scale up its electric vehicle fleet in its logistics operations to 600+ EV trucks by December 2026.

UltraTech has signed service contracts with leading EV prime mover manufacturers including Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, IPLTech, Energy in Motion and Sany, along with their subsidiaries and other third-party logistics providers, to deploy EV trucks.

The total fleet of 600+ EV trucks will transport about five million MT of clinker and other key materials per annum across Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha. Once fully operational, this fleet of over 600 EV trucks will enable a net annual CO₂ reduction of more than 1,17,000 tonnes, displacing the equivalent of 39 million litres of diesel per year.

K C Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech Cement Limited, said, “UltraTech is expanding sustainability beyond its plants by adopting greener logistics solutions. This large-scale transition to green logistics underscores our focus on decarbonising every link of our value chain and supports our commitment to achieving Net Zero.”

UltraTech has been a pioneer in advancing sustainable transport in the cement sector, being the first cement company to deploy heavy-duty electric trucks for long-haul transport of clinker and other materials at scale. The company was among the first in India to introduce green logistics, deploying CNG trucks in 2021 and electric trucks in 2024. UltraTech currently operates 850+ trucks as part of its green logistics operations, including CNG and electric trucks.

UltraTech, with a grey cement capacity of over 200 MTPA in India, operates one of the country’s most complex logistics networks. Its electrification strategy covers the entire supply chain—from mine-to-plant movement to inter-plant transport of clinker and other key materials.

The $ 10 billion UltraTech, the cement flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, has a total Grey Cement capacity of 205.5 MTPA and White Cement/Putty capacity of 3.2 MTPA. It is a signatory to the GCCA Climate Ambition 2050 and has committed to the Net Zero Concrete roadmap announced by GCCA.

Concrete

CarbonStrong Raises Rs 125 Million To Scale Low Carbon Cement Tech

To build capacity of 100,000 tonnes a year

Published

6 days ago

August 28, 2026

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CarbonStrong has raised Rs 125 million (125 mn) to scale a low carbon cement technology and build commercial production capacity. The startup was founded in 2022 by Harsh Jain and Vikramaditya Singh and has moved from customer trials to plans for industrial supply. The company said its material replaces up to 50 per cent of cement in concrete while reducing costs and improving durability.

CarbonStrong states the product is around 30 per cent cheaper than cement and compatible with existing concrete plants, reducing the need for new equipment and operational disruption. Trials and paid pilots have been conducted in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai with demonstration projects involving ready-mix firms and precast manufacturers. Compatibility with current workflows forms a central part of the commercial strategy, aiming to ease adoption by builders and contractors.

The funding will support construction of a facility with capacity of up to 100,000 tonnes (100,000 t) a year over the next two years to supply early customers commercially. The firm is also developing materials from steel slag, copper slag and mine tailings to expand its feedstock base, while noting the technical challenge of homogenising different waste streams. Recognition by HCL ClimaForce in 2026 and by the Avaana-Startup India-NITI Aayog AIM Grand Challenge in 2025 has underscored progress.

Industry adoption remains the principal test and will require consistent material performance, supply reliability and competitive economics. CarbonStrong projects the Indian market for cement substitutes could reach Rs 250 billion (250 bn) by 2030 and has set an ambition to produce 10 million tonnes a year by 2035 (10 mn t), a target far above its near term capacity. Moving from pilots to production demands capital, manufacturing discipline and customers willing to specify the material beyond demonstrations. The recent Rs 125 million raise is intended to fund the next phase of scale and to demonstrate that industrial waste can become a dependable input for lower carbon construction.