The 14th Cement EXPO, organised by FIRST Construction Council and Indian Cement Review, was a mega event with over 1,500 visitors, conducted concurrently with the 9th Indian Cement Review Conference and 7th ICR Awards. Held at the Maneckshaw Centre, New Delhi, on 14 and 15 December, 2023, the event brought industry stakeholders together on a common platform.

The 14th Cement EXPO was inaugurated by Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI; and Ali Emir Adiguzel, Founder and Director, World Cement Association, along with Pratap Padode, Founder, FIRST Construction Council (FCC). The chief guests were then escorted to the sprawling two-tiered exhibition space, where top notch companies in the cement industry’s supply chain were present with their latest innovations and offerings. The chief guests interacted with the exhibitors, asking them questions about technological breakthroughs, sustainable solutions and new-age services that are helping India’s cement industry transform.
The 14th Cement EXPO garnered significant support from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government e Marketplace (GeM), and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India (GoI).
Jaxay Shah, Chairperson, Quality Council of India, joined the event via a video message. In his message, he said, “The Cement Expo stands as a testament of the dynamic adaptive nature of our industry. It is crucial that ideas, best practices and technology come together to forge the future of the cement and construction centres.”

Conclusion
As the curtain fell on the 14th Cement EXPO, anticipation is mounting for the next edition, which promises to be larger and even more impactful. The success and resonance of this year’s expo lay the groundwork for an event that is bound to be bigger, drawing in greater participation, fostering more profound discussions and showcasing the continued evolution of the cement industry. With a forward-looking perspective, Indian Cement Review is confident that it will contribute significantly to the ongoing transformation of the industry.

What the industry has to say about the 14th Cement EXPO…

“Through the medium of the Cement EXPO, we can exchange our views and come to know about the new things being invented in the industry, so that we can implement those new technologies in our plants and use them. These will be more efficient, more power saving and also will help us open up our horizons. It is best to see these new inventions and the EXPO is helping us do that and give us immense insights about the sector also. I think they have chosen a very apt theme because nowadays sustainability and ESG has become very important, especially in the cement sector because there is a lot of pollution and use of fossil fuels. What we have been doing in the past is something different where now the owners and every stakeholder has to be responsible to take India to a level where our Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi has envisioned the nation. We have started working inside the plants on becoming more carbon neutral and also have good projects of sustainability with ESG, which is one of the major parts in our theme. Indian Cement Review has chosen a very important aspect with their theme and this is commendable.

• Vinita Singhania, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, JK Lakshmi Cement

“Definitely the Cement EXPO is very helpful for the industry as people from different industries come together and they are observing the panel discussions as well as presentations made by technology suppliers. New technologies, which are coming up, are also being explored here and there are so many takeaways that can be implemented in the respective industries. Thus, this EXPO is very helpful to have on a continuous basis. ‘Driving Sustainability Through Technology’ is a great theme. It is helping the cement industry, especially as the panel that has been put together has a collection of people from different backgrounds and industries coming together. This is beneficial for everyone who has participated in the EXPO. They have taken a lot of takeaways and have put up an opinion on what the next steps for sustainability are in terms of alternative fuels, green energy, carbon capture as well as research and development for new products.

• Shailendra Kumar Gupta, Chief Operating Officer and Cluster Head-North Zone, Ultratech Cement

“The 14th Cement EXPO is definitely a very good initiative because not only for the industry, but also for the manufacturers, the suppliers, OEM providers, equipment manufactures etc. They are assembled here for these two days to share their thoughts and their best practices, which helps everyone come together as one ecosystem. It’s a very exciting event and I look forward to the next one as well! ‘Driving Sustainability Through Technology’ is a very pertinent topic. Data is getting generated from IoT, from sensors, from machines, so technology will play a huge role, not only in assimilating and managing the data but also in generating insights. We can move from descriptive analytics towards predictive and prescriptive analytics and use downtime assumptions, predictive analytics, safety aspects, use of AI and data technologies to meet objectives.”

• Himanshu Ghawri, Partner, PwC

“The 14th Cement Expo is very relevant because it has raised issues related about sustainability and carbon emissions, especially considering the fact that our honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has recently gone abroad and given some commitments regarding India’s carbon emissions coming down to Net Zero by 2050 or 2060. Therefore, different industries have to gear up to ensure that they help the country meet these targets. Cement industry, unfortunately, is responsible for a huge amount of carbon emissions, therefore, the responsibility also falls on the industry in a much larger manner.
I am very happy that ASAPP Info Global has organised this expo and conference at a very relevant and appropriate time to help raise the issues and bring in experts who are discussing these issues in detail and with thoroughness. I am sure that once the proceedings of the conference come up and are available to everyone, they will provide the thrust for getting the cement industry go further in their efforts to reduce their carbon emissions and meet the Net Zero targets.”

• Sanjiv Garg, Secretary General, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and, former Managing Director, Pipavav Rail Corporation

“I have 24 years of experience in IT, securities and data analytics. My core field is digital transformation of the cement industry. I have taken up six end-to-end projects for that. I have seen that this is vital from a sustainability point of view and the cement industry is coming up with ways to leverage digital platforms for cost effective processes, higher efficiencies and improved task force. In such a scenario, the 14th Cement EXPO plays a vital role in getting peers, companies as well as other stakeholders and delegates from the companies to come together, collaborate and learn every new practice that will be implemented in the industry.
Technology has a huge role to play in any organisation. We should definitely think about cutting-edge applications for artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotic arms and data analytics. In this area, technology is going to play a major role in cost control, operational efficiency and process efficiency.”

Durgamadhab Mohanty, Senior VP – IT, Birla Corporation

“The theme ‘Driving Sustainability Through Technology’ is very relevant for us – an industry like ours that’s CO2 generating and hard-to-abate. There is a lot of stuff that the cement industry is doing and there is a lot of stuff that still need to be done. There is a lot of technology and knowledge that resides outside, which the cement companies are not aware of. A forum of this nature actually helps us get all these stakeholders together on the same platform. There is a lot of cross pollination of ideas. In the panel discussion and subsequent conversations, there are a couple of points that I have picked up for myself, which I will pursue. This would not have been possible if I hadn’t come here. We can collectively work together on delivering impact.
The way the Cement EXPO helps is that it gets different stakeholders involved – from the technology and process side to practising individuals and peripheral entities. It gets all of them together on a common theme about making cement operations more sustainable and it helps us solve problems. There is an appreciation of these issues on the supplier side, technology side and likewise on the user side within the cement industry.”

Nilesh Narwekar, CEO, JSW Cement