Concrete

Indian Cement Review Conference 2023

Published

3 years ago

March 15, 2023

admin

Thought leaders of the Indian cement industry gathered together to discuss the efforts towards sustainability and decarbonisation with a laser focus on C.A.S.E – Cost-Efficiency, Automation, Skilling and Energy-Efficiency, at the 8th Indian Cement Review Conference and the 13th Cement Expo, in Hyderabad on 24th February, 2023.

The Indian Cement Review has over the years tracked and applauded the sustainable endeavours undertaken by the cement industry in achieving net zero emissions, through its editorial pieces. So, when it was time for the 8th Indian Cement Review Conference, we decided to widen our lens and look at the multiple parameters that are helping cement manufacturers and allied companies to align their processes to the overall green goals of our country. The resulting confluence of ideas proved to be a gold mine of strategies, solutions and policies that can catapult the industry on the sustainability highway. The presentations and panel discussions by key opinion leaders further highlighted the fact that the Indian cement industry is at the forefront of decarbonising cement, producing green cement and enriching each and every step of the way with C.A.S.E – Cost-Efficiency, Automation, Skilling and Energy-Efficiency.

In this special report, we present to you a synopsis of the ideas exchanged at the 8th Indian Cement Review Conference at Sheraton Hotel, Hyderabad on the 24th of February, 2023. The 13th Cement Expo was also held concurrently with the Conference, along with the Indian Cement Review Awards 2023.

Leading the Way
Pratap Padode, Founder & President, FIRST Construction Council, invited Sumit Bannerjee, Chairman, Editorial Advisory Board, Indian Cement Review; Shantanu Sharma, Brand Manager, ExxonMobil; and Ashok Dembla, President and MD, KHD Humboldt Wedag, to start the proceedings of the day with a traditional lamp lighting ceremony and the unveiling of the Indian Cement Review Annual Issue. The collector’s edition focussed on the C.A.S.E for decarbonisation of cement as it encapsulated Cost-Efficiency, Automation, Skilling and Energy-Efficiency while highlighting the latest developments in this sector and discussing impending changes.
Padode went on to welcome the speakers, delegates and exhibitors and encouraged their active participation in the day-long deliberations that were planned around the theme of decarbonising cement. He further summarised the challenges faced by the Indian cement industry as well as the growth opportunities it presented for manufacturers in terms of technological innovation and capacity building. He supported his opinions with statistical findings and his in-depth knowledge about the Indian cement and construction industries. This was followed by Sharma’s welcome speech wherein he underscored the importance of taking assured steps towards sustainability.
Dr Sriharsha Reddy, Director, IMT Hyderabad, took to the dais to deliver the session keynote address on the topic of ‘ESG – Green Financing: A new opportunity for the cement industry.’ He brought to light a number of important issues pertaining to fund procurement through traditional methods and the challenges therein.
The keynote address presented by Dr Mohapatra, DG, NCCBM, was titled ‘Towards Circular Economy and Sustainability.’ He started off with the thought-provoking idea “There’s no waste in India; everything is wealth.” The questions he raised and the ideas he presented were enriched with his decades of experience of working on research, development and analysis of alternative raw materials and renewable fuel for the cement industry. He highlighted the struggles in manufacturing blended cement and the opportunities that are available for its use. Finally, he suggested ways to ensure that each manufacturing plant falls within the gamut of a circular economy.

The C.A.S.E. in Point
The first panel discussion for the day revolved around ‘ESG – Green Financing: A new opportunity for the cement industry.’ The panellists included:

Moderator: Sudipta Ghosh, Partner, PwC
Dr BN Mohapatra, DG, NCCBM
K N Rao, Corporate Head (EHS, AFR, Energy and Sustainability), MY Home Industries
Manoj Rustgi, EVP & Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, JSW Cement
Manoj Vyas, LEAD – AFR Sourcing and Business Development, VICAT
Dr Sriharsha Reddy, Director, IMT Hyderabad
Shantanu Sharma, Brand Manager, ExxonMobil

Key Takeaways

Cement manufacturing technology has matured due to which the industry has arrived at the current best numbers of 676 kCal per kg clinker and 56 units of power consumption per tonne of cement. Now the biggest challenge is how to go from the lowest average of 300 kg of CO2 per tonne of cement to zero. Breakthrough technologies in carbon capture are required for the industry to achieve this.
Some of the solutions that are required to address this issue include solar calcination of limestone to get pure form of CO2 and obtaining by-products like methanol or urea.
Only carbon capture is mitigation; it doesn’t have commercial value.
Cement OEM and government need to work together in order to bring out the economic value of carbon capture with the latter bringing in aspects such as carbon labelling, carbon trading and green funds.
Non-contact grinding and heat recovery from kilns are other aspects that need to be explored to bring Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to zero.
Digital transformation will lead us to the next level of our journey of CO2 emissions, sustainability and low carbon footprint.
Decarbonisation and profitability are not mutually exclusive.
With well-planned processes, the right source of fuel and raw materials and technologically advanced solutions, it is possible for cement companies to thrive and yet be eco-friendly.
Cement manufacturers should look at not only creating economic value but also at ecological value.
Putting in green processes requires finance. Traditional lending institutions like banks evaluate how these changes would reflect on the topline or would result in net profit or bottomline or will it be able to service the debt. RBI has enlarged the scheme of purity sector lending, which includes green initiatives.
The main challenge in bank lending is long term loans as green initiatives have a long term payback.
Other lending institutions include venture capitalists, government grants and bilateral or multilateral financial institutional grants.
Saurabh Palsania, Executive Director and Group Commercial Head, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), who joined in virtually, made the keynote address around the theme of carbon capture and its benefits for the cement manufacturers. He underscored the need to implement innovative technology and most importantly a proper strategy, in order to revolutionise the efforts towards net zero emissions. Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is an investment-intensive process that also requires a commitment of time and labour. Keeping all these factors in mind, cement companies need to chart out an effective strategy to incorporate CCUS into their eco systems, ensure purity of the captured carbon and channel it towards predetermined activities for its optimum utility.

Towards Digitalisation
The Cement Leaders’ Roundtable was about ‘Demystifying digitalisation and maximising the value chain impact.’ The panellists included:

Moderator: Madhav Vemuri, Industry Digital Transformation Entrepreneur
Ashok Dembla, President and MD, KHD Humboldt Wedag
Ganesh Jirkuntwar, Executive Director and Head Manufacturing, Dalmia Cement
Subhasis Chattopadhyay, Head – Projects, Birla Corporation
Karthick Raja, Chief Information Officer, Orient Cement
SS Luthra, Global Cement Digital, ABB
Vishal Bhargava, Associate Director, Global Industries, IBM

Key Takeaways

Digital tools are mandatory as digitalisation will help optimise all stages of cement production.
Industry 4.0 gives tools that will help in determining the desired product quality.
ESG is mandatory but digitisation will help improve the processes.
Cloud based platform and transparency is very important.
Automation at the plant is vital.
Without being profitable, we cannot be sustainable.

The last topic of the day was ‘Innovative Supply Chain Strategies in the Cement Industry.’ Gaurav Gautam, Head of Sales, Beumer Group, made a presentation on the topic, which highlighted the innovations in material handling systems that they are undertaking in order to make the movement of finished products smoother along the supply chain. They specialise in tailor-made intralogistics solutions that help maximise productivity of cement companies.
This was followed by the panel discussion. The panellists included:

Moderator: Raveen Reddy, Chief Administrative Officer – Systems, Indian Railways
Praveen Garg, Sr VP – Logistics and Energy Sourcing, VICAT
Vaibhav Agarwal, Research Analyst, PhilipCapital

Key Takeaways

Innovation in first and last mile connectivity is crucial to cost efficiency.
Logistics should be looked at not as a commercial function but as a technology function.
If logistics is based on technology, we will be able to drive the supply chain in a much better way. Therefore, investment in technology is important.
To correctly evaluate the processes, cement manufacturers need to look at them not from a cost perspective but from a revenue angle.
The only differentiator a cement company can have today is not cost or quality but logistics.
Non-renewable sources of energy need to be explored to address the energy demand for distribution.
Automation is the key for future solutions in logistics.

Each panel discussion was followed by a Q&A round, which witnessed active participation from the members of the audience. The fact that the panels were thought-provoking was evident in the way the audience was engaged in discussions even during the networking breaks.
Apart from the panel discussions, the Conference also included presentations by industry experts. The presentation partners were as follows:

Jayesh Patil, Assistant Manager, Flow Aids, Martin Engineering
Nischal Basavaraj, Regional Head – South, Liugong India
Sasi M Kumar, Business Development Manager – Cement, ExxonMobil
S Chakravarti, Managing Director, Ecodea Projects and Control

The conference also saw the unveiling of the annual issue of the Indian Cement Review, which focussed on C.A.S.E – Cost-Efficiency, Automation, Skilling and Energy-Efficiency. It ended with a vote of thanks to all the participating speakers and attending delegates.
The day, however, was far from over as it was time for the Indian Cement Review Awards 2023.

The Conference was well-supported by the industry and we had collaborations with key brands.
Presenting Partner
ExxonMobil Lubricants Private Limited
Gold Sponsor
JK Cement Limited
PhillipCapital India Pvt Ltd
Silver Sponsor
LiuGong India Pvt Ltd
Associate Sponsor
Humboldt Wedag India Pvt Ltd
Presentation Partners
Martin Engineering Company India Pvt. Ltd.
Beumer India Pvt Ltd
Ecodea Projects & Control Private Limited
Logo Sponsor
Stotz Gears Private Limited
Exhibiting Partners
Toshniwal Industries Pvt. Ltd.
TIDC Limited (Murugappa Group)
Ringfeder Power Transmission India Pvt. Ltd.

Up Next

Process Control Solutions for the Future

Don't Miss

Milestone Trends in Indian Cement Industry

Concrete

JK Cement Declared Preferred Bidder For Gilund Limestone Block

Shares Edge Higher As Company Wins Rajasthan Block

Published

1 day ago

June 30, 2026

admin

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.

Concrete

Star Cement Named Preferred Bidder For Boro Lakhindong Block

Preferred bidder for limestone mining lease in Assam

Published

2 days ago

June 29, 2026

admin

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.

Concrete

KERC Proposal To Cut Rooftop Solar Export Tariff Raises Concern

Consumers and advocates urge regulator to reconsider change

Published

2 days ago

June 29, 2026

admin

The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has proposed a reduction in the tariff paid for surplus electricity that rooftop solar installations export to the grid, prompting concern among consumers, renewable energy advocates and industry specialists. The proposal arrives while the Central government and state governments are promoting clean energy adoption and offering subsidy schemes to encourage rooftop solar deployment. Thousands of households in Karnataka, particularly in Bengaluru, have invested substantial sums in rooftop systems to reduce reliance on conventional power and support state renewable targets.

Stakeholders have raised questions about the implications of a lower export tariff for the financial attractiveness of rooftop solar investments and the pace of the state transition to renewables. Industry analysts warned that a reduction in compensation for excess generation could discourage new installations and extend payback periods for existing systems. Current messaging from authorities, which simultaneously promotes adoption while proposing lower export rates, has been described by user groups as creating contradictory signals for consumers.

Experts argued that policy measures should focus on grid modernisation rather than reducing consumer benefits, with investments in transmission and distribution networks needed to manage higher volumes of distributed solar generation. Consumer groups and renewable advocates are preparing written submissions to the regulator and are urging retention of incentives that support household adoption of rooftop systems. KERC has invited public objections and suggestions as part of a consultation process that will determine the final tariff framework.

The outcome of the consultation is expected to influence the future growth of rooftop solar across the state and shape investor confidence in small-scale renewable projects. Residents who have already installed rooftop panels are monitoring developments closely because changes to compensation mechanisms may affect household finances and the speed of return on investment. Observers noted that coherent policy, aligned incentives and grid upgrades would be essential to sustain momentum in the rooftop solar sector.