Concrete

AAC blocks are eco-friendly and sustainable

Published

2 years ago

October 19, 2023

admin

Narayan Saboo, Chairman, Bigbloc Construction, discusses the qualities of AAC blocks and its environmentally friendly properties.

What is the composition of Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks?
AAC is a lightweight, precast, cellular concrete. It is a green building material composed of fly ash, gypsum, lime, portland cement, water and aluminum powder. AAC blocks are made in rectangular prism shape only.

What is the core functionality of the blocks?
AAC blocks are widely used in the construction of apartments and other types of residential properties, industrial and commercial buildings. Owing to their excellent heat insulation capacity and thermal resistance, AAC blocks find application in interior and exterior construction.

What brings strength and durability to these blocks?
These materials include cement, lime, fly ash, gypsum, aluminum powder and some other additives. The precise combination and proportion of these materials contribute to their overall strength.

How do you ensure quality standards?
We make AAC blocks as per BIS code IS 2185 Part 3, guidelines in IS code to ensure quality standards.

What are the key advantages of using these blocks as building materials?
AAC blocks are eco-friendly and sustainable. They are lightweight, thermally insulated, energy efficient and fire resistant. Their other qualities include acoustics performance, easy workability, design flexibility and faster construction. AAC Blocks are one-third in weight as compared to red bricks thereby reducing the dead load on the building and resulting in huge saving of structural costs. Also, as the size is equivalent to almost nine red bricks, construction is much faster; the labour required is less; joints in the wall are also less thereby resulting in mortar savings, too.

How does it impact the environment?
AAC blocks are eco-friendly and sustainable. They are green lightweight building materials, with less transport cost. This material warms the room during the winter and cools it during the summer, reducing air-conditioning system usage by at least 25 per cent. Non-toxic and pest repellent, they prevent soil erosion and consume less water. Use of red bricks results in an upper layer of soil erosion, which makes the land barren or infertile in the long run.

What innovations can we expect from you?
We are starting with the manufacturing of ALC panels, which is further advancement of technology as ALC panels are a new age building material that is a further advancement of AAC Blocks.
Panels are reinforced with steel and they will make construction much faster, too. Also, we are looking to get many other new age building materials in our partnership with SCG.

Up Next

Precast concrete allows for elaborate and customised designs

Don't Miss

Enhancing Efficiency in the Cement Industry

Concrete

Ultra Concrete Age

Prof. A. S. Khanna (Retd., IIT Bombay) on how Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) improves strength, durability and lifecycle performance.

Published

1 week ago

April 1, 2026

admin

The need of present time is stronger buildings, industrial or common utility buildings, such as Malls, Railway stations, hospitals, offices, bridges etc. For this, there is need of long durable, tough and stable concrete, which could stand under normal and seismic conditions. Tough railway bridges are required for bullet trains to pass without any damage. Railway tunnels, sea-links, coastal roads, bridges and multistorey buildings, are the need of the hour. The question comes, is the normal cement called OPC is sufficient to take care of such requirements or better combination of cements and sand mixtures is required?

Introduction

A good stable building structure can be made with a good quality of cement+sand+water system. Its quality can be enhanced by keeping the density of admixture higher (varies from 30 in normal buildings to bridges etc to 80). Further enhancement in the properties of various cements admixtures is made by adding several additives which give additional strength, waterproofing, flexibility etc. These are called construction chemicals…

To read the full story Click Here

Concrete

NCB Signs MoU With Cement Manufacturer To Boost Construction Skills

Partnership to deliver nationwide training and certification

Published

1 week ago

March 31, 2026

admin

The National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB) has signed a memorandum of understanding with a leading cement manufacturer to strengthen skill development and capacity building in the construction sector. The agreement was formalised at NCB premises in Ballabgarh and was signed by the Director General of NCB, Dr L. P. Singh, and the head of technical services at UltraTech Cement Limited, Er Rahul Goel. The collaboration seeks to bring institutional resources and industry expertise into a structured national training effort.

The partnership will deliver structured training and certification programmes across the country aimed at enhancing the capabilities of civil engineers, ready?mix concrete (RMC) professionals, contractors, construction workers and masons. Programme curricula will cover material quality testing, concrete mix proportioning, durability assessment and sustainable construction practices to support improved construction outcomes. Emphasis is to be placed on standardised assessment and certification to raise practice levels across diverse construction roles.

Practical learning elements will include workshops, site demonstrations, technical seminars and exposure visits to plants and RMC facilities to strengthen applied skills and on?site decision making. The Director General indicated confidence that a large number of professionals and workers would be trained over the next three to five years under the initiative. The partnership is designed to complement flagship government schemes such as the Skill India Mission and to align training outputs with national infrastructure priorities.

By combining the council’s technical mandate with industry experience, the initiative aims to develop a more skilled and quality?conscious workforce capable of meeting rising demand in infrastructure and housing. NCB will continue to coordinate programme delivery and quality assurance while industry partners provide practical exposure and technical inputs. The collaboration is expected to support long?term capacity building and more sustainable construction practices nationwide.

Concrete

JSW Cement Commissions Nagaur Plant, Enters North India

New Rajasthan unit boosts capacity to 24.1 MTPA and expands reach

Published

1 week ago

March 30, 2026

admin

JSW Cement has strengthened its national presence by commencing production at its greenfield integrated cement plant in Nagaur, Rajasthan, marking its entry into the north Indian market.

With this commissioning, the company’s installed grinding capacity has increased to 24.1 MTPA, while total clinker capacity, including its joint venture operations, stands at 9.74 MTPA.

The Nagaur facility comprises a 3.30 MTPA clinkerisation unit and a 2.50 MTPA cement grinding unit, with an additional 1.00 MTPA grinding capacity currently under development. Strategically located, the plant is positioned to serve high-growth markets across Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and the NCR.

The project has been funded through a mix of equity and long-term debt, with Rs 800 crore allocated from IPO proceeds towards part-financing the unit.

Parth Jindal, Managing Director, JSW Cement, stated that the commissioning marks a key milestone in the company’s ambition to become a pan-India player. He added that the project was completed within 21 months and positions the company to achieve its targeted capacity of 41.85 MTPA by FY29.

Nilesh Narwekar, CEO, JSW Cement, highlighted that the expansion aligns with the company’s strategy to tap into rapidly growing northern markets driven by infrastructure development. He noted that the company remains focused on delivering high-quality, eco-friendly cement solutions while progressing towards its long-term capacity goal of 60 MTPA.

The Nagaur plant has been designed with sustainability features, including co-processing of alternative fuels and a 7 km overland belt conveyor for limestone transport to reduce road emissions. The facility will also incorporate a 16 MW Waste Heat Recovery System to improve energy efficiency and lower its carbon footprint.

JSW Cement, part of the JSW Group, operates across the building materials value chain and currently has eight plants across India, along with a clinker unit in the UAE through its joint venture.