Concrete

The Indian cement industry is achieving an exemplary performance

Published

3 years ago

November 18, 2022

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Jim O’Brien, CSR Consultant and Convenor of Global Aggregates Information Network (GAIN), evaluates how far the industry has come with the efforts to decarbonise cement and to have a positive impact on the environment as he places India’s performance on the spectrum of the international cement industry.

The cement industry is responsible for approximately 8 per cent of emissions globally. What are the key factors the industry must be looking into to reduce this?
Yes, the cement industry is responsible for around 8 per cent of the global CO2 emissions, and it is taking very active steps to reduce that footprint. In parallel, it must be realised that cement is an essential building material for a rapidly-developing modern society like India. Cement, aggregates, and concrete are essential to building the much-needed infrastructure and housing for what is now the most populous and rapidly-developing region in the world. Those concrete structures will gradually absorb much of the CO2 emitted during the cement production, and enable adaptation to whatever changes in climate may occur in the decades ahead. That wider perspective needs to be understood.

What is your outlook about India’s decarbonisation scenario? How is the country faring vis-a-vis other countries in the West?
Even though India pledged to reach Net Zero by 2070, its cement industry is forging ahead on a decarbonisation path to reach that goal by 2050 – or even earlier. In the analysis based on their 2021 sustainability reports, the top Indian players like Ultratech, Shree and Dalmia, demonstrably lead the world in process parameters like:

Achieving best kiln thermal efficiencies, approaching as low as 3000MJ/tonne clinker, against an industry average of around 3500MJ/tonne clinker.
Achieving best specific net CO2 emissions, now in the region of only 500kgCO2 /tonne cementitious product, against an industry average in the region of 600kg/CO2 /tonne.
Achieving reduction in specific net CO2 emissions by over 40 per cent compared to their levels in 1990, which are world-leading performances, of which the Indian cement industry can be truly proud.
These world-leading trends witness the major past and ongoing investments in modern kiln technology in India, in turn motivated the rapidly growing market and buoyant economic outlook for at least this decade.

Tell us more about the impact of alternative fuels and raw materials on the energy efficiency of the cement industry.
There are surprisingly contrasting results for the Indian players in this area:

The use of alternative fuels in India is amongst the lowest in the world, amounting to only a few per cent of thermal substitution; this is probably because waste legislation is not yet as advanced in India as it is in Europe, where, for example, kilns often use up to nearly 100 per cent of the alternative fuels.
These alternative fuels bring two distinct advantages. Firstly, use of these fuels (or at least the biomass component thereof) allows credits in the calculation of net CO2 emissions. Secondly, these fuels are cheaper, the more hazardous ones coming even with a negative cost, with significant commercial benefit.
The use of alternative materials in India is, on the other hand, amongst the highest in the world, ranging from 20 per cent to 40 per cent substitution, allowing very low clinker/cement ratios approaching 60 per cent; this is viable through the plentiful availability of puzzolans, slags and fly-ashes in India compared to Europe.
The high use of alternative materials and consequent low clinker/cement ratios in India not only greatly reduces the net specific CO2 emissions, but also reduces the volume of limestone needed to produce cement, an important factor in India.

How can technology and automation contribute towards building a sustainable environment?
The leading Indian players are also technology leaders in:

Highly efficient electrical energy consumption in the region of 70-80kWh/tonne cement, compared to the international average of around 100kWh/tonne, in India achieved through advanced grinding technology, probably also helped by the less demanding cement fineness required.
The extensive investment in waste heat recovery systems, plus the move to renewable energy, in particular through solar installations, all of which help to reduce Scope 2 CO2 emissions.
Automation is clearly key to optimising all processes both within and beyond the cement plant, and the latter can help in reducing Scope 3 transport emissions of both incoming raw materials and outgoing products.

In the Indian context, what would be the best practices to follow to ensure a sustainable environment?
There is much more to sustainability performance than CO2 emissions; the larger Indian players also feature prominently in other aspects.
In air emissions, they laudably achieve particulate emissions less than 40g/tonne clinker, NOx less 1000g/tonne clinker and SOx less 100g/tonne clinker, all well below industry averages, but do not yet report on minor air emissions.
Because of water scarcity in India, the larger players are highly focused on water use optimisation, achieving as low as 84 litres/tonne of cement, way below the industry average of around 300 litres/tonne; the major players pride themselves in being many times water-positive through rainwater harvesting.
The Indian players are highly conscious of waste reduction and re-use, one reporting itself as ‘plastic-positive’, their high use of alternative materials indeed puts them amongst the biggest recyclers in any industry.
As part of their ‘licence to operate from society’, the leading players have restoration plans for all their quarries, several with replanting programmes and biodiversity monitoring action plans where appropriate.

How can organisations overcome the challenges of maintaining a healthy and sustainable environment?
A number of relevant social indicators can be cited:
Like the cement industry globally, the Indian industry has a strong focus on occupational health and safety.

However, a number of fatalities to employees, contractors and third parties were reported amongst the Indian players in 2021; while the industry has achieved major improvement in fatality reduction over the last decade, the only acceptable figure is zero.
Indian employee accident rates are extremely low, as also are contractor rates, bearing witness to the strong operational focus on those key areas.
In terms of training, the Indian figures of 10-20 hours of training per employee per year are at or below the industry average of 20 hours, though many international players now have from 30 to 90 hours per employee per year.
Employee turnover rates in the Indian companies tend to be in the region of 6 per cent to 8 per cent, below the industry average of 12 per cent, indicating long-term employee loyalty in the Indian companies.
The employee age profiles in the Indian companies tend to be about 10 per cent below the age of 30, with 70 per cent between the ages of 30 and 50, with 20 per cent over 50, the average employee age being less than industry average, which bodes well for the future; however, the Indian companies have typically less than 5 per cent female employees, much lower than the industry average of 12 per cent.
Indian companies have world-leading programmes in terms of vital support to local communities in education (particularly for women), medical facilities, provision and clean water and sanitation; these witness the Indian cement industry’s huge dedication to the broader social needs of Indian society.

How do you envision the future of a sustainable environment in relation to the cement and building materials sector?
As demonstrated, the Indian cement industry is achieving an exemplary performance within the context of its cement plants and surrounding communities. So far, the Indian industry has in general little downward integration into concrete and aggregates, as is much more common in Europe and other developed regions. Accordingly, both the aggregates and concrete sectors are less developed in India compared to other countries, and could, I suggest, benefit in terms of broader synergistic, sustainability, quality and reputational terms through greater involvement of the cement industry.
The Indian cement industry, in the broadest sense, I believe, is all about delivering the most sustainable solutions in housing, infrastructure, transport and well-being to its society of 1.4 billion people; they deserve and rightly expect a happy, secure, prosperous, and sustainable future in the world’s fastest growing major regional economy. Accordingly, the opportunities for ambitious Indian entrepreneurial companies in further developing its cement, concrete and aggregates industries are immense.

–Kanika Mathur

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In India, the use of alternative fuel is at a very nascent stage

Concrete

The primary high-power applications are fans and mills

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2025

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Alex Nazareth, Whole-time Director and CEO, Innomotics India, explains how plants can achieve both cost competitiveness and sustainability by lowering emissions, reducing downtime and planning for significant power savings.

As one of the most energy-intensive industries, cement manufacturing faces growing pressure to optimise power consumption, reduce emissions and improve operational reliability. Technology providers like Innomotics India are enabling this transformation by combining advanced motors, AI-driven digital solutions and intelligent monitoring systems that enhance process stability and reduce energy costs. From severe duty motors built for extreme kiln environments to DigiMine AI solutions that optimise pyro and mill operations, Alex Nazareth, Whole-time Director and CEO, Innomotics India, explains how the company is helping cement plants achieve measurable energy savings while moving closer to their sustainability goals.

How does your Energy Performance Contracting model typically reduce power consumption in cement plants—e.g., MWh saved?
Our artificial intelligence-based DigiMine AI Pyro and Mill solutions developed specifically for the cement industry, supports our customers in improving their process stability, productivity and process efficiency. In Pyro, this is achieved by optimising fuel consumption (Coal / AFR), reducing Specific Heat Consumption and reduction in emissions (CO2, SOx and NOx) through continuous monitoring of thermodynamics in pyro and recommending set-points of crucial parameters in advance for maintaining stable operations.
Within the mill, this is achieved by improving throughput, reduce energy / power consumption and maintaining stable operations on a continuous basis. Our ROI-based value proposition captures the project KPIs like reduction of coal usage, increase of AFR, reduction of specific heat consumption (Kcal / Kg), reduction of specific power consumption (KWH / tonne), reduction of emissions, etc., by a specific percentage. This gives clarity to our customers to understand the investment vis-à-vis savings and estimate the recovery time of their investment, which typically is achieved within one year of DigiMine AI Pyro and Mill solutions implementation.

What role do digitalisation and motor monitoring play in overall plant energy optimisation?
Motors are being used extensively in cement production, and their monitoring play crucial role in ensuring continuous operation of applications. The monitoring system can automatically generate alerts for any anomaly / abnormalities in motor parameters, which allows plant team to take corrective actions and avoid any major equipment damage and breakdown. The alerts help maintenance team to plan maintenance schedule and related activity efficiently. Centralised and organised data gives overview to the engineers for day-to-day activities. Cement is amongst the top energy intensive industries in comparison to other industries. Hence, it becomes critically important to optimise efficiency, productivity and up-time of plant equipment. Motor monitoring and digitalisation plays a vital role in it. Monitoring and control of multiple applications and areas
within the plant or multiple plants becomes possible with digitalisation.
Digitalisation adds a layer on top of OT systems, bringing machine and process data onto a single interface. This solves the challenges such as system silo, different communications protocol, databases and most importantly, creates a common definition and measurement to plant KPIs. Relevant stakeholders, such as engineers, head of departments and plant heads, can see accurate information, analyse it and make better decisions with appropriate timing. In doing so, plant teams can take proactive actions before machine breakdown, enable better coordination during maintenance activities while improving operational efficiency and productivity.
Further using latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence can even assist operators in running their plant with minimal requirement of human intervention, which allows operators to utilise their time in focusing on more critical topics like analysing data to identify further improvements in operation.

Which of your high-efficiency IEC low-voltage motors deliver the best energy savings for cement mills or fans?
Innomotics India offers a range of IEC-compliant low-voltage motors engineered to deliver superior performance and energy savings, particularly for applications such as cement mills, large fans, and blowers. Innomotics has the complete range of IE4 motors from 0.37kW to 1000kW to meet the demands of cement industry. The IE5 range is also available for specific requirements.

Can safe area motors operate safely and efficiently in cement kiln environments?
Yes, safe area motors are designed to operate reliably in these environments without the risk of overheating. These motors have ingress protection that prevents dust, moisture ingress and can withstand mechanical stress. These motors are available in IE3 / IE4 efficiency classes thereby ensuring lower energy consumption during continuous operation. These motors comply with relevant Indian as well as international standards.

How do your SD Severe Duty motors contribute to lower emissions and lower cost in heavy duty cement applications?
Severe duty motors enhances energy efficiency and durability in demanding cement applications, directly contributing to lower emissions and operational costs. With high-efficiency ratings (such as IE3 or better), they reduce power consumption, minimising CO2 output from energy use. Their robust design handles extreme heat, dust and vibration—common in cement environments—ensuring reliable performance and fewer energy losses.
These motors also lower the total cost of ownership by reducing downtime, maintenance and replacement frequency. Their extended service life and minimal performance degradation help cement plants meet sustainability targets, comply with emissions regulations and improve overall energy management—all while keeping production consistent and cost-effective.

What pump, fan or compressor drive upgrades have shown approximately 60 per cent energy savings in industrial settings and can be replicated in cement plants?
In the cement industry, the primary high-power applications are fans and mills. Among these, fans have the greatest potential for energy savings. Examples, the pre-heater fan, bag house fan, and cooler fans. When there are variations in airflow or the need to maintain a constant pressure in a process, using a variable speed drive (VSD) system is a more effective option for starting and controlling these fans. This adaptive approach can lead to significant energy savings. For instance, vanes and dampers can remain open while the variable frequency drive and motor system manage airflow regulation efficiently.

Concrete

We conduct regular internal energy audits

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2025

admin

Shaping the future of low-carbon cement production involves integrating renewables, digitalisation and innovative technologies. Uma Suryam, SVP and Head Manufacturing – Northern Region, Nuvoco Vistas, gives us a detailed account of how.

In an industry where energy consumption can account for a significant portion of operating costs, cement manufacturers are under increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices without compromising efficiency. Nuvoco Vistas has taken a decisive step in this direction, leveraging digitalisation, renewable energy and innovative technologies to drive energy efficiency across its operations. In this exclusive conversation, Uma Suryam, SVP and Head Manufacturing – Northern Region, Nuvoco Vistas, shares its approach to energy management, challenges of modernising brownfield plants and its long-term roadmap to align efficiency with India’s net-zero vision.

How has your company improved energy efficiency over the past five years?
Over the past five years, we have prioritised energy conservation by enhancing operational efficiency and scaling up renewable energy adoption. Through strategic fuel mix optimisation, deployment of cleaner technologies, and greater integration of renewables, we have steadily reduced our environmental footprint while meeting energy needs sustainably.
Technological upgrades across our plants have further strengthened efficiency. These include advanced process control systems, enhanced trend analysis, grinding media optimisation and the integration of solar-powered utilities. Importantly, grid integration at our key plants has delivered significant cost savings and streamlined energy management.
A notable milestone has been the expansion of our solar power capacity and Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS). Our solar power capacity has grown from 1.5 MW in FY 2021–22 to 5.5 MW, while our WHRS capacity has increased from 44.7 MW to 49 MW, underscoring our commitment to sustainable energy solutions.

What technologies or practices have shown the highest energy-saving potential in cement production?
One of our most significant achievements in advancing energy efficiency has been the successful commissioning of a 132 KV Grid Integration Project, which unified three of our major manufacturing units under a single power network. This milestone, enabled by a dedicated transmission line and a state-of-the-art Line-In Line-Out (LILO) substation, has transformed our energy management and operational capabilities.
With this integration, we have substantially reduced our contract demand, eliminated power disruptions, and enhanced operational continuity. Supported by an optical fibre network for real-time communication and automation, this project stands as a testament to our innovation-led manufacturing excellence and underscores Nuvoco’s vision of building a safer, smarter, and sustainable world.

What role does digitalisation play in achieving energy efficiency in your operations?
Digitalisation plays a transformative role in driving energy efficiency across our operations. At Nuvoco, we are leveraging cutting-edge technologies and advanced digital tools to enhance productivity, optimise energy consumption and strengthen our commitment to sustainability and employee safety.
We are developing AI-enabled dashboards to optimise WHRS and kiln operations, ensuring maximum efficiency. Additionally, our advanced AI models evaluate multiple operational parameters — including fuel pricing, moisture content and energy output — to identify the most cost-effective fuel combinations in real time. These initiatives are enabling data-driven decision-making, improving operational excellence and reducing our environmental footprint.

What is your long-term strategy for aligning energy efficiency with decarbonisation goals?
As part of India’s climate action agenda, the cement sector has laid out a clear decarbonisation roadmap to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions by 2070. At Nuvoco, we view this as both a responsibility and an opportunity to redefine the future of sustainable construction. Our long-term strategy focuses on aligning energy efficiency with decarbonisation goals by embracing innovative technologies, alternative raw materials and renewable energy solutions.
We are making strategic investments to scale up solar power installations and enhance our renewable energy mix significantly by 2028. These initiatives are a key part of our broader vision to reduce Scope 2 emissions and strengthen our contribution to India’s net-zero journey, while continuing to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to our customers.

How do you measure and benchmark energy performance across different plants?
We adopt a comprehensive approach to measure and benchmark energy performance across our plants. Key metrics include Specific Heat Consumption (kCal/kg of clinker) and Specific Power Consumption (kWh/tonne of cement), which are continuously tracked against Best Available Technology (BAT) benchmarks, industry peers and global standards such as the WBCSD-CSI and CII benchmarks.
To ensure consistency and drive improvements, we conduct regular internal energy audits, leverage real-time dashboards and implement robust KPI tracking systems. These tools enable us to compare performance across plants effectively, identify optimisation opportunities and set actionable targets for energy efficiency and sustainability.

What are the key challenges in adopting energy-efficient equipment in brownfield cement plants?
Adopting energy-efficient technologies in brownfield cement plants presents a unique set of challenges due to the constraints of working within existing infrastructure. Firstly, the high capital expenditure and relatively long payback periods often require careful evaluation before investments are made. Additionally, integrating new technologies with legacy equipment can be complex, requiring significant customisation to ensure seamless compatibility and performance.
Another major challenge is minimising production disruptions during installation. Since brownfield plants are already operational, upgrades must be planned meticulously to avoid affecting output. In many cases, space constraints in older facilities add to the difficulty of accommodating advanced equipment without compromising existing layouts.
At Nuvoco, we address these challenges through a phased implementation approach, detailed project planning and by fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration across our plants. This helps us balance operational continuity with our commitment to driving energy efficiency and sustainability.

Concrete

Enlight Metals Supplies 3,200 Tonne of Steel for Navi Mumbai Airport

The airport is set to become Asia’s largest air connectivity hub.

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2025

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Enlight Metals has supplied 3,200 metric tonne of steel for the newly inaugurated Navi Mumbai International Airport, marking a major contribution to one of India’s largest infrastructure projects and reinforcing the company’s commitment to supporting national development.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport, developed under a Public-Private Partnership led by the Adani Group, was inaugurated today by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The airport is set to become Asia’s largest air connectivity hub, enhancing regional connectivity, boosting economic growth, and expanding trade opportunities. Prime Minister Modi described the project as a “glimpse of Viksit Bharat,” highlighting its transformative impact on infrastructure and development in the region.

“The supply of 3,200 metric tonne of steel for this key project aligns with our focus on supporting critical infrastructure development through reliable and timely metal sourcing. Enlight Metals is committed to enhancing transparency and efficiency in the steel supply chain, contributing to projects integral to India’s growth objectives,” said Vedant Goel, Director, Enlight Metals.

Enlight Metals has implemented technology-driven solutions to strengthen supply chain efficiency, ensuring consistent availability of construction materials for large-scale projects nationwide. Its contribution to the Navi Mumbai International Airport underscores the company’s growing role in supporting India’s infrastructure development initiatives.

This milestone reflects Enlight Metals’ ongoing engagement in delivering quality materials and timely services for major national projects, further cementing its position as a reliable partner in India’s infrastructure sector