With the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) making it mandatory for the top 1000 listed companies to submit a Business Responsibility Report (BRR) to the stock exchanges as part of their annual reports, ‘going green’ is no longer a voluntary act for cement manufacturers. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is much more than a trending hashtag on social media or jargon to be flaunted at climate summits. It is the tangible reality that cement companies are required to tabulate statistically and present as hard facts to the governing authorities. As cement is one of the seven hard-to-abate industries for carbon emissions, contributing about 70 per cent to India’s CO2 emissions, we are expecting the leash of accountability to tighten around the sector with stringent practices and laws coming into force in the near future.
Given the resource and labour-intensive nature of production, curtailing carbon emissions at a single node is not likely to have any impact on the overall picture. Measures are to be taken at every step of the way – from mining and sourcing of raw materials to last mile connectivity – in order to lower carbon emissions. Green cement is an undeniable reality, and a lot is required in terms of customer education, governmental norms and industry regulations, to make green cement a norm rather than an exception.
Going green is certainly an uphill task but there’s one key term that can ease the process for cement manufacturers. And that term is collaboration. UltraTech has collaborated with Green Planet Logistics, an LNG-fuelled heavy trucking logistics company, to cater to the company’s bulk terminal. Dalmia Cement has signed a long-term partnership with Vedanta Aluminium for supply of industrial wastes such as fly ash for manufacturing low carbon cement. It is such initiatives between cement and other sectors that will help the industry reduce its carbon footprint. Being a crucial contributor towards the country’s Net Zero goals is what we are expecting of the Indian cement industry. Time and impartial analysis will lead us to the conclusion whether the efforts taken are truly paying off or is all this a mere ‘greenwashing’ endeavour.