Hemanshu Hashia, Country Head, Safety Jogger India, and Piyush Bose, Business Head, Joseph Leslie & Co. LLP discuss the various aspects of safety equipment required for smooth adaptability of HSE operations in a highly intensive industry such as cement manufacturing. Leslico is the strategy consultant to Safety Jogger India.
Tell us about the safety gear that you manufacture and their components and use at a cement plant? What is the quality standard that is followed for the safety gear? Safety Jogger manufactures footwear, which acts as a basic protection gear for workers in the cement plants. This industry has a high unpredictable risk averse environment, thus, all the safety footwear that we manufacture is in accordance with the global quality standards and Indian BIS standards. Apart from safety shoes, Leslico manufactures other PPE parts like safety helmets, safety eyewear, safety ear protection and specialised work wear along with safety gloves, which are relevant to the cement industry. Cement industry is one of the biggest providers in the India construction movement. The safety starts from the head and goes up to the toes and we call it the head-to-toe protection. It talks about head protection, face protection, eye protection, respiratory protection, garments, hand protection and the safety shoes, which make for an important part of the safety gear for the cement industry working professionals and Leslico are at the top of the list. The major consumables in the cement industry are: head protection, hand protection and foot protection. Apart from these there are other parts that form a part of the PPE kit, which protect from high heat, dust environment and respiratory protection. We have a wide range of head protection products suited for cement industry workers at different levels. Every product is certified to its relevant quality standard. We offer products that offer global standards of quality. Being in the global era, we believe that our PPE should also be global. Hence, our products are approved and certified to at least 70 per cent of the global domain, i.e., ANSI Standards, ASTM International Standard, EU Standards and the BIS norms. Our safety jogger shoes have been tested in accordance with three global quality standards namely, BIS 15298, EN 20345, ASTM 2413-18. Each standard has its own advantages. The BIS and European Norms test products according to impact resistance, the ASTM Norms also test them according to compression resistance. Certain components have slip resistance, however, that is a subjective term, and all the standards have a different set of tests and approval for the same. So, a composition of a good product should not only have the certification requirements but also the important takeaways like properties of water repellent upper and compression resistance requirements. In India, typically safety equipment manufacturers have been following only one standard of norms for their quality tests. However, the times have changed and globally the demand is for all standard certifications in one product. Therefore, we are also educating the users of safety equipment in India to ask for global quality standard norms and are making it available for them at the same price. We look at the hazards and the people working in the cement industry. There are multiple people visiting the cement plants in various capacities. The pandemic and post pandemic era have made people aware and more conscious of their safety and hygiene. We have a product named TigerGrip Overshoes by Safety Jogger, which is something a visitor to the plant can wear over their shoes. This is to avoid them wearing previously worn shoes and raise concerns of hygiene. It can be washed easily and prevents contamination due to sweat or any other impurities. Safety Jogger has a software that allows us to accommodate and determine shoe size 4 to 11 within just four SKUs of this product. This is a revolution in the safety industry. Safety is lifesaving equipment. From a consumer’s point of view, we often know specifications of consumer durables that we want, but as the safety equipment market is crowded, there is a lot of confusion on what the consumer of these equipment wants.
What is the tolerance of your personal protective gear when exposed to harsh conditions at the cement plants? Tolerance is the measure where performance of a product comes into picture. Safety gears are meant to withstand the harshest of conditions. Which means that when a standard of a product is made, it is made to harsh conditions where the impact can come from any side to it. For example, a high heat application product is supposed to protect the worker from heat. But given a situation where accidently, some molten metal comes to the clothing, it should also be resistant to this condition. Thus, what the industry needs today against its existing practices is to go 20 per cent higher than the minimum tolerance required. All their safety gear specifications should be driven in a manner where they have to withstand the minimum tolerance required. The BIS requires a product to have a minimum of 14mm clearance in a size 8 show after an impact of 200J on the toe cap. Safety Jogger toe caps have a minimum tolerance of 17mm to 22mm along with compression resistance tests. Our safety shoes are tested at an impact of 240J against 200J to ensure maximum safety for its users. It is by default a higher tolerance level than the minimum required standard. The outsole of the shoe, a very important part, ensures slip resistance which is also tested at 20 per cent over and above set standard. Along with these resistance features, we also do a tolerance test for penetration resistance for the shoe. This protects its users from getting injured with any objects like nails etc., by penetration in their feet. Thus, the safety factor is built into our shoes. Another example for withstanding harsh conditions would be the testing of a helmet. In real scenarios, it is not necessary that the helmet is hit only from the top. It can be hit from any angle. Leslico products protect the wearers of head protection from vertical as well as lateral impacts. We also have electrical insulation of 20KV. To further ensure the users of our shoes, anyone who is wearing the Safety Jogger shoes are protected by an insurance amount of $5 million. This is a global insurance we do for every user. The real question is how will the end customer check the tolerance of the protective gear that they are using. For that, they need to deep dive into the minimum required tolerances and also understand what the markets have to offer. Our products are available globally and maintain the same tolerance levels for every single one of them. Safety PPE works with trust and to gain trust, any manufacturer cannot cut corners. It becomes our duty to ensure that those wearing our safety gears are protected under the harshest of conditions and go back home safely.
What is the role of technology in understanding the safety requirements and subsequently making equipment for the industry? We are one of the biggest safety shoe manufacturers globally, which makes it imperative to use technology and assess gaps in safety in the industry and act upon it. For example, our shoes come with a barcode and with a phone’s QR code scanner, the barcode can be scanned and can be connected to the internet, thus giving all the information of the shoe. This scanner can determine the type of shoe, its use and tolerance levels. This barcode also allows the user to give feedback directly to us and helps us address the issues and experience of the users for the shoe and make the product even better. The information is shared with teams across the globe. We also have a Safety Jogger foot sizer app, which allows you to check your foot size with a picture of your foot. This way you will end up getting the correct size of the shoe for yourself. We use powerBI. With this, we check our performance at the user end. For example, the cement industry uses our products. With the powerBI, we can check the popular models of shoes used, feedback on each shoe by user, the sales and prices of the product in the industry. It gives us an industry based snapshot and information, based on which we can tweak our designs and make products better suited to the cement industry. This app also allows us to forecast the requirements of our products. Since these products – gloves, helmets, safety shoes etc., are life saving products and critical to industries, it allows us to stock them up and make them available to the customer as soon as they raise a requirement for the same. We understand that PPE enables the functioning of processes at cement plants. We maintain stock so that there is no lag due to the non-availability of safety gear as that is a huge cost to the organisation as well.
What are the key preventive measures for the cement plants? One of the main challenges with the cement industry is the training with safety equipment. So, training at the local level or grassroot level is the challenge. Care for the shoe needs to be taught to the user so as to maintain its longevity. Industry experts should be invited to give these training sessions to the workers at the plant level and the sessions should be interactive to ensure that there are no doubts in the use of our safety gear.
Tell us about some innovative or upcoming safety gear by your organisation that can be beneficial for the cement industry. One of the critical projects that we are working on is a high heat application product. It has the required approval standards along with wearer comfort. The wearer comfort refers to the breathability of the fabric and the wearing of the product. It is a seven layer suit, which is usually very heavy and we are trying to bring down its weight by 50 per cent. This is a product in the pipeline. Leslico is going to be coming up with Global Product Recyclability. In this work system, we recycle old helmets by turning them into granules and then making a new product out of them. This is our drive for sustainability. Our endeavour is to increase customer engagement, to make the safety industry and cement industry safe places to work. We are setting this up and trying to build it up commercially for better results. Globally, every shoe manufactured leaves a carbon footprint globally. We have understood that lower the carbon footprint, more is its demand. At Safety Joggers, we have manufactured a shoe where we have used plastic bottles that have been thrown away in the ocean. Our experts collect these bottles and make shoes that are recyclable. My dream is to make a standard safety shoe for the Indian cement industry as it reduces waste, reduces carbon emission and has a long lifecycle as well. In 2022, we launched our own ‘Make in India’ campaign and in November we started manufacturing shoes in India itself. We did great sales and have also started exporting these shoes to approximately 20 countries globally. We are trying to explore the Indian market extensively and are trying to make the most of the available opportunity. It is a proud moment for us as Indians.
Indian Cement Review (ICR) and Fuller Technologies brought industry, policy and technology leaders together to discuss how cement innovation can drive green construction at scale, writes Rakesh Rao.
India is building at a pace few countries can match. Highways, airports, housing, logistics parks, industrial corridors and urban infrastructure are reshaping the country’s economic geography. But beneath this growth story lies a difficult question: can India continue to build at scale without locking itself into a high-carbon future?
That question formed the core of an online panel discussion titled “Driving Green Construction Through Cement Innovation”, organised by Indian Cement Review (ICR) in association with Fuller Technologies as the Presenting Partner on June 25, 2026. The webinar brought together experts from cement technology, R&D, global industry platforms, building performance policy and international development cooperation to examine how low-carbon cement and material innovation can accelerate India’s green construction transition.
The discussion came at a crucial time. India has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 and reducing the carbon intensity of its economy by 45 per cent by 2030. At the same time, the country’s construction sector is expanding rapidly, driven by urbanisation, infrastructure development, housing demand and industrial growth. Cement, as one of the most widely used construction materials, sits at the heart of this transition. It is indispensable to development, but also central to the challenge of reducing embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure.
Moderated by Nitika Krishan, Senior Urban Infrastructure and Sustainable Policy Consultant, the panel featured:
Dr Hemantkumar Aiyer, VP and Head R&D, Nuvoco Vistas Corp Ltd;
Devika Wattal, Innovation Lead, Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA);
Dr Sunita Purushottam, MD, GBPN India (Global Buildings Performance Network); and
Vaibhav Rathi, Senior Technical Advisor, GIZ (the German Agency for International Cooperation)
Setting the tone for the discussion, Nitika Krishan underlined the scale of the challenge before the sector. “The question before us is no longer whether we build, but how we build sustainably,” she said. She pointed out that construction accounts for nearly 40 per cent of global energy-related carbon emissions when both operational and embodied carbon are considered. Cement production, she added, remains one of the hardest industrial processes to decarbonise.
For India, this is not merely an environmental issue. It is a development issue, a competitiveness issue and increasingly, a market issue. As one of the world’s largest cement producers and among the fastest-growing construction markets, India’s material choices will influence the carbon trajectory of its built environment for decades. As Krishan observed, sustainability solutions in economies such as India must not remain limited to laboratory success. They must be scalable, commercially viable and practical at national level.
The innovation gap: From technology to market
Experts believe that there is a need to bridge the innovation gaps for making decarbonisation in cement and concrete scalable. Devika Wattal of GCCA, explained, “The starting point must be the core cement manufacturing process itself. The first and foremost is the heart of our process, the heart of cement manufacturing. How do we reduce clinker? That is always a topic where industry is working very intrinsically.”
Clinker reduction remains one of the most important pathways for lowering emissions in cement. Since clinker production is energy-intensive and chemically emits carbon dioxide, reducing the clinker factor through supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), blended cements and new chemistries can have a significant impact. Wattal also noted that carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) will have a role, though it may not be the first lever for all markets.
However, she stressed that innovation cannot stop at technology development. A solution that works in the lab must also be adaptable to industry, scalable in production and acceptable in construction practice. “It is important for that innovation to be adaptable, to be scalable, and so that it can be executed in real time,” she said.
Wattal also called for stronger enabling systems around innovation. These include performance-based standards, product-level embodied carbon databases and clearer frameworks for evaluating green materials. Without these, low-carbon cement products may struggle to compete with conventional materials in procurement and design.
R&D must balance carbon, cost and performance
Bringing in the R&D perspective into the discussion, Dr Hemantkumar Aiyer of Nuvoco Vistas emphasised that low-carbon cement development cannot be treated as a single-variable exercise. Cement must perform in real construction conditions. It must deliver strength, durability, consistency and cost competitiveness, while also reducing carbon.
“The root of understanding and balancing all these aspects lies in materials, and knowing the materials,” he said.
According to Dr Aiyer, R&D teams must understand the variability of raw materials such as fly ash, slag and clinker. Different sources produce different material behaviours. This makes mix optimisation, material characterisation and processing-property relationships critical. When performance is affected, cement manufacturers must understand how strength enhancers, admixtures and other performance chemicals interact with the material system.
He also linked material science with process efficiency. Clinkerisation takes place at extremely high temperatures, around 1,400 to 1,450 degrees Celsius. Any improvement in raw mix design, process control or energy optimisation can, therefore, help reduce emissions and cost. Dr Aiyer pointed to artificial intelligence-based optimisation, Cement 4.0 tools and advanced software as important enablers for real-time process and material control.
“The more you understand the materials, the more you can control it,” he said.
LC3: The promise is proven, the sequencing is not
Limestone calcined clay cement, commonly referred to as LC3, has attracted global attention because it can reduce clinker content significantly by using calcined clay and limestone while maintaining performance in many applications. Kiranmai Sanagavarapu of Fuller Technologies said the technology itself has already moved beyond proof of concept. Fuller Technologies has worked with calcined clay technology for nearly two decades and has seen plants running in France and Ghana. These plants, she said, are meeting local and national specifications, while the economics are beginning to make sense.
“The calciner is performing, the economics is stacking up, it is making business sense to produce,” she said.
But if the technology is viable, why has adoption not scaled faster? For Sanagavarapu, the answer lies in project sequencing. Too often, clay characterisation happens after equipment is specified. This, she warned, is a backward approach because calciner design depends on clay mineralogy, kaolinite content, iron levels, reactivity, moisture and other variables.
“If you don’t know what your deposit looks like before you commit for the equipment, you are, in a way, going blind into designing,” she said.
She also identified permitting and plant integration as major bottlenecks. Environmental clearances, mining permissions and local regulatory approvals must begin early. Similarly, calcined clay must be integrated into existing grinding, blending and logistics systems from the design stage, not treated as an afterthought during commissioning.
India already has IS 18189:2023 standard for LC3, but Sanagavarapu pointed out that the standard is not yet visible enough in procurement documents. “The gap between what is technically being permitted and what the procurement is asking is the single biggest bottleneck,” she said.
In her view, successful scale-up depends on getting the sequence right: clay characterisation first, permitting in parallel, standards aligned with construction, and integration built into plant design.
India’s LC3 journey: Progress, but demand remains thin
Providing details of India’s LC3 commercialisation experience, Vaibhav Rathi of GIZ noted that JK Cement carried out the first commercial production of LC3 at its Rajasthan plant, followed by JK Lakshmi Cement three months later. These initiatives were supported by the International Climate Initiative of the Government of Germany, with IIT Delhi contributing deep institutional knowledge on LC3 research and BIS certification.
Rathi said India’s early experience has produced clear lessons. One of the biggest was the need to build capacity among regulators. While BIS certification existed, State Pollution Control Boards were unfamiliar with the technology and unsure about the approval pathway.
“The capacity building is not just needed amongst the producer and the users of the cement, but also the regulators who are working with this technology for the first time,” he said.
He also highlighted the need for better information on China clay deposits. Since China clay is currently classified as a minor mineral, centralised data on availability, quality and location is limited. If cement manufacturers are to adopt LC3 at scale, stronger mineral intelligence will be important.
The third issue is demand. LC3 has already been used in projects such as Palava City in Mumbai and Noida International Airport, but these remain limited examples. “It is in a chicken and egg situation,” Rathi said. “Cement companies are saying we need more demand, and users are saying there is not enough cement available.”
Public procurement, he suggested, could help break this cycle. If agencies such as CPWD and other public bodies begin testing, accepting and specifying LC3, it could create the market confidence needed for cement companies to invest in production and storage.
Building codes must catch up with innovation
Dr Sunita Purushottam of GBPN India argued that material choices will determine built environment emissions over the long term, but India’s current policy signals remain fragmented. Although LC3 has received BIS recognition, she pointed out that building codes, municipal bylaws, schedules of rates and sustainability codes do not yet provide uniform guidance on low-carbon cement.
“The current cement regulations are largely prescriptive and favouring traditional materials,” she said. This limits the ability of alternative materials to compete on performance, durability and emissions.
Dr Purushottam also raised the issue of taxation. Cement, including LC3, currently falls under the same GST bracket as conventional cement. A differentiated tax structure, she argued, could help accelerate market adoption. “In order for the market to demand LC3, that differentiation in the GST could go a long way,” she said.
She noted that green building certifications such as IGBC and GRIHA are already creating demand for low-carbon materials by assigning points for embodied carbon and sustainable material use. However, she said large-scale adoption will require regulatory mandates, particularly through building codes and state-level notifications.
She also cautioned that low-carbon cement alone does not solve the entire building performance problem. A material may reduce embodied carbon, but the operational carbon of a building depends on thermal performance, design, insulation and energy use. “The energy part has two elements,” she said. “One is the embodied carbon of the material itself, and the other is the operational carbon.”
Collaboration is the bridge between invention and impact
Wattal said GCCA sees innovation as a strategic priority and works through platforms that connect industry with academia and start-ups. “There is no way we will decarbonise our sector without innovation,” she said.
However, she stressed that research must be connected to actual industry challenges. Innovations developed in isolation may fail when they encounter real-world barriers such as raw material variability, plant integration, cost, standards and finance. Start-ups, too, need industry mentorship and scale-up pathways.
Wattal also flagged the importance of finance. Even strong technologies may struggle to attract investment if there is no common understanding of bankability. “We have always put projects into, is this a bankable project? But the definition of a bankable project has never been defined,” she said.
For India, she saw strong potential in its academic and start-up ecosystem, but said the challenge lies in alignment and prioritisation. The country has the research base, industrial capacity and market size. What it now needs is a coordinated route from innovation to deployment.
There is a practical concern for cement manufacturers: how can existing plants be adapted for lower emissions without compromising reliability or commercial viability?
Kiranmai Sanagavarapu addressed, “The reliability risk in calcined clay retrofit is definitely real, but it is almost always self-inflicted. The risk arises when a new process is added to an existing circuit without properly redesigning grinding and blending configurations.”
Existing cement plants, she explained, can take two broad routes. The first is external sourcing of calcined clay combined with mill optimisation. This requires lower capital investment and can potentially move in 12 to 18 months if other conditions are in place. It may reduce emissions by around 20 to 30 per cent. The second route is integrated calcination on site, which requires higher capital expenditure and longer lead times, but provides greater control over quality, supply and emissions reduction potential.
For Sanagavarapu, the principle is simple: low-carbon retrofits must be designed with intent. “Design it with an intent properly from the start. Start in the market conditions where the economics are already working,” she said.
Circularity: The overlooked advantage
According to Vaibhav Rathi, fly ash and slag are already well established in cement and construction (C&D), but construction and demolition waste remains underutilised. “C&D waste is a growing business opportunity which not many have taken up,” he said. India’s continuous construction and demolition activity creates huge volumes of waste, much of which contributes to air pollution, land degradation and material inefficiency. With the right processing and standards, this waste can be converted into useful construction products.
Rathi also pointed out that LC3 has a circular economy dimension that is often overlooked. It can use low-grade kaolin-rich clay left behind after high-grade clay is extracted for other applications. “LC3 is not only a low-carbon solution, but also a circular economy solution,” he said.
At the same time, he cautioned that LC3 in India is not yet cheap because it has not reached scale. Site-specific techno-commercial feasibility studies, supported jointly by development agencies and industry, could help companies assess whether LC3 production makes technical and financial sense at a given location.
Dr Purushottam added that India must address both low-carbon cement and construction waste together. “Both low-carbon cement and C&D waste go hand in hand. India does not have an option but to work on both,” she said.
Dr Aiyer called for policy shifts from both government and industry, including preferential purchasing of sustainable materials, minimum supplementary cementitious material requirements in public and public-private projects, and faster regulatory implementation. “If we can fast-track the regulatory standards and their implementation on the ground, that is the way to go,” he said.
From green ambition to green construction
Cement innovation is no longer only about chemistry. It is about systems. Low-carbon cement will scale only when technology, standards, procurement, finance, regulation, education and construction practice move together.
LC3 and other low-carbon technologies have shown promise. India has early commercial examples, strong research capability and growing market interest. But mainstream adoption will depend on whether demand can be created, regulators can be capacitated, standards can be embedded in procurement, and manufacturers can see a clear business case.
For a country building at India’s scale, the opportunity is enormous. Cement will continue to be central to infrastructure and urban development. The challenge now is to ensure that the cement used in India’s growth story carries a lower carbon burden.
Rakesh Rao
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JK Cement gained after being declared preferred bidder for the Gilund Limestone Block in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, a lease area of 370.96 hectares. The firm saw its shares trade at Rs. 5550.05, up by 28.45 points or 0.52 per cent from the previous close of Rs. 5521.60 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs. 5569.15 and touched a high of Rs. 5625.00 and a low of Rs. 5531.00.
The stock recorded turnover of 1742 shares on the counter and the BSE group A stock with face value Rs. 10 has a 52 week high of Rs. 7565.00 on 20-Aug-2025 and a 52 week low of Rs. 4670.05 on 12-Jun-2026. Last one week high and low stood at Rs. 5625.00 and Rs. 5329.00 respectively. The promoters holding in the company stood at 45.66 per cent, while institutions and non-institutions held 40.61 per cent and 13.73 per cent respectively.
The e-auction conducted by the Government of Rajasthan resulted in the company being declared preferred bidder for the mining lease, and the allocation will enable the company to plan phased development of the deposit, subject to regulatory approvals. The Gilund block spans 370.96 hectares and its allocation is intended to support raw material security for the company’s cement operations in the region. The designation follows the government auction process and will allow the company to plan development and integration of the deposit into its supply chain.
The current market capitalisation stands at Rs. 430.38 billion (bn), reflecting market response to the mining news and prevailing valuation levels for the sector. Investors and analysts will watch for formal allotment and related disclosures that can clarify timelines, capital expenditure and expected production profiles. The report is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice, and market participants are advised to consult advisers before making decisions.
Star Cement has been declared the preferred bidder for the mining lease for Boro Lakhindong West Block following e-auctions conducted by the Government of Assam. The block is located in Boro Lakhindong Village, Umrangso Tehsil, Dima Hasao District, Assam, and extends over an area of 123 hectares. The estimated limestone resource is 207.822 million (mn) tonnes (t), a quantity that will supply raw material for cement production and support the company’s manufacturing operations in the region.
The company is engaged in the manufacturing and selling of cement clinker and cement and distributes products across the north-eastern and eastern states of India. Star Cement operates plants and logistics networks that procure and process limestone to produce clinker for cement, and the addition of Boro Lakhindong is presented as a strategic enhancement of feedstock availability. The preferred bidder status secures rights to the specified lease area under the terms of the auction process.
Financial results for the company in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026 showed a consolidated net profit rise of 20.24 per cent to Rs 1,481.0 mn on an 11.54 per cent increase in revenue to Rs 11,735.5 mn compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Those results reflected higher sales volumes and revenue growth in the company’s primary markets and are cited in company disclosures accompanying the lease announcement. The reported performance provides context to the company’s ability to pursue and finance new mining lease opportunities.
Market reaction to the declaration was modest, with the scrip rising zero point thirty six per cent to trade at Rs 212 on the BSE. The award of the Boro Lakhindong lease concludes the e-auction process for the west block and assigns operational rights to Star Cement as the preferred bidder, subject to completion of statutory and contractual formalities.
