Leaders of Indian cement industry brought together on single platform
The 8th Indian Cement Review Conference and 13th Cement Expo held in Hyderabad on 24th February, 2023 brought the thought leaders of Indian cement industry on a single platform to discuss the efforts towards sustainability and decarbonisation, with a laser focus on C.A.S.E. cost-efficiency, automation, skilling and energy-efficiency.
Indian Cement Review Conference
The day turned out to become the epicenter of the cement industry leaders wherein Shantanu Sharma, Brand Manager, ExxonMobil underscored the importance of taking assured steps towards sustainability. Dr Sriharsha Reddy, Director, IMT Hyderabad brought up a number of important issues pertaining to fund procurement through traditional methods and the challenges therein.
A high-octane panel discussion was revolved around C.A.S.E for sustainability and decarbonisation. It witnessed deep deliberations from Sudipta Ghosh, Partner, PwC; Dr BN Mohapatra, DG, NCCBM; KN Rao, Corporate Head, MY Home Industries; Manoj Rustgi, EVP & Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, JSW Cement; Manoj Vyas, LEAD – AFR Sourcing & BD, VICAT; Dr Sriharsha Reddy and Shantanu Sharma.
Saurabh Palsania, ED & Group Commercial Head, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) shared deep insights on carbon capture technology and how it can revolutionise the cement industry.
The event also witnessed showcasing of innovate products and services to revolutionise the cement and allied industries by various industry experts including Jayesh Patil, Asst. Manager, Flow Aids, Martin Engineering; Nischal Basavaraj, Regional Head – South, Liugong India; Sasi M Kumar, BDM – Cement, ExxonMobil; and S Chakravarti, MD, Ecodea Projects and Control.
The highlight of the day was the high-profile roundtable session, with the cement industry leaders sharing their rich views on demystifying digitalisation and maximising the value chain impact. This forum was participated by various influencers like Madhav Vemuri, Industry Digital Transformation Entrepreneur; Ashok Dembla, President & MD, KHD Humboldt Wedag; Ganesh Jirkuntwar, ED & Head Manufacturing, Dalmia Cement; Subhasis Chattopadhyay, Head – Projects, Birla Corporation; Karthick Raja, CIO, Orient Cement; SS Luthra, Global Cement Digital, ABB; and Vishal Bhargava, Associate Director, Global Industries, IBM.
On the cement logistics part, innovative supply chain strategies in the cement industry were shared by Gaurav Gautam, Head of Sales, Beumer Group, Raveen Reddy, CAO – Systems, Indian Railways; Praveen Garg, Sr VP – Logistics & Energy Sourcing, VICAT; and Vaibhav Agarwal, Research Analyst, PhillipCapital.
ICR Awards
Indian Cement Review Awards 2023 were presented to the fastest growing cement companies in various categories.
Large Category (over Rs 5000 cr turnover)
Ranking
Brand Name
1
UltraTech Cement
2
JK Cement
3
JK Lakshmi Cement
3
Dalmia Cement (Bharat)
Medium Category (between Rs 2000-5000 cr turnover)
Ranking
Brand Name
1
JSW Cement
2
Star Cement
Small Category (under Rs 2000cr turnover)
Ranking
Brand Name
1
Udaipur Cement Works
2
Shree Digvijay Cement
KC Jhanwar, MD, UltraTech stole the show as recipient of the ‘Man of the Year 2022-23’ award.
Tamil Nadu is set to host one of India’s five national carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) testbeds, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in the cement industry as part of the country’s 2070 net-zero goal, as per a news report. The facility will be based at UltraTech Cement’s Reddipalayam plant in Ariyalur, supported by IIT Madras and BITS Pilani. Backed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the project will pilot an oxygen-enriched kiln capable of capturing up to two tonnes of CO2 per day for conversion into concrete products. Additional testbeds are planned in Rajasthan, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh, involving companies like JK Cement and Dalmia Cement. Union Minister Jitendra Singh confirmed that funding approvals are underway, with full implementation expected in 2025.
JSW Cement has set the price range for its upcoming initial public offering(IPO) at US$1.58 to US$1.67 per share, aiming to raise approximately US$409 million. As reported in the news, around US$91 million from the proceeds will be directed towards partially financing a new integrated cement plant in Nagaur, Rajasthan. Additionally, the company plans to utilise US$59.2 million to repay or prepay existing debts. The remaining capital will be allocated for general corporate purposes.
As per a news report, Karan Adani, ACC Chair, has said that he expects the cement industry to benefit from the an anticipated US$2.2tn in new public infrastructure spending between 2025 and 2030. In a statement he said that ACC has crossed the 100Mt/yr cement capacity milestone in April 2025, propelling the company to get closer to its ambitious 140Mt/yr target by the 2028 financial year. The company’s capacity corresponds to 15 per cent of an all-India installed capacity of 686Mt/yr.