Economy & Market

Leading the Green Revolution

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2024

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Ajay Kapur, CEO – Cement Business, Adani Group, explores India’s proactive measures, from embracing renewable energy and waste heat recovery to reducing clinker usage and innovatively repurposing industrial by-products, signaling a promising shift towards sustainable cement manufacturing.

Imagine a world without cement – it’s almost like picturing a skyline without its defining structures. As one of the most commonly used building materials, the manufacturing of cement faces significant challenges in decarbonising. Tackling this challenge goes beyond the ordinary, considering that the cement sector is a major player, contributing up to 7-8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The significance of this issue is particularly pronounced for India, as we currently hold the dual status of the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of cement. The production capacity of the Indian cement sector is poised to grow to more than 700 million tonnes (MT) over the next five years from around 570 MT now. Consumption on the other hand is also set to grow to 450 MT by 2027.
As the Indian economy expands and continues on this growth path to reach $5 trillion in GDP in the near term and emerge as the world’s third largest economy before the end of the current decade, the environmental challenges will also become more formidable.
Most large cement manufacturers in India have already committed to becoming carbon neutral sometime around the middle of this century and this is also going to contribute to India’s Net Zero ambition set for 2070. The road ahead for Indian cement manufacturers is very similar to what the energy sector faces. India’s economic turnaround that started in 1991 also brought home conversations around the rising and unprecedented levels of consumption of energy to fire up the economy, putting the country under the environmental spotlight, too. Cement production is not only energy intensive but also depends on natural mineral resources. The widespread adoption of well-understood and sustainable cement production practices has been a gradual process, gaining momentum over time. Today, the Indian cement sector is ready to meet sustainability challenges head-on through a whole range of measures that covers the entire value chain in cement manufacturing, leading all the way to increasing the share of green cement on the demand side.

Alternative fuel and raw materials
Being an energy-intensive sector, cement manufacturers have started investing in cleaner sources of energy like solar and wind as captive generation units to run their plants. This shift in no small measure is supported by the falling cost of renewable energy India. Between 2010 and now, the cost of solar modules in India have dropped by more than 80 per cent, making it one of the most sought after sources of clean energy for large industrial units including cement. Similar efforts are also on to move finished cement, packed and bulk on more sustainable or green logistics like soya extract-based biofuel powered shipping. Bulk terminals and grinding units along India’s long coastline can enable the movement of clinker and cement through the sea route at the lowest possible cost.
The share of green energy is further enhanced through investments in Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS). These systems not only adhere to the principles of the circular economy but also result in fossil fuels savings. This not only nurtures a more cost-efficient process but also directly impacts the bottom line.
According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the Indian cement Industry has the highest potential to adopt WHRS as an alternative to conventional sources of energy. WHRS installations will continue to grow along with the increase in capacity to manufacture cement, bringing it close to 1.3 GW at current production capacity levels. It is estimated that WHRS would help replace the energy requirement equivalent to 8.6 million tonnes of coal, resulting in emissions savings of 12.8 million tonnes of CO2 by the Indian cement manufacturers.
Cement manufacturers are also cutting down on the ‘clinker factor’ by replacing them with industrial by-products without compromising the quality (strength) of the cement. Cutting down the clinker factor offers two immediate benefits. One, it reduces energy consumption because clinker is produced at ~1400°C (from limestone etc.,) and two, it also softens the environmental impact of by-products like flyash, slag and silica fumes. Manufacturing a tonne of Ordinary Portland cement also releases around 800 kg of CO2. Investments are also made in recycling massive quantities of municipal waste into Refuse Derived Fuel or RDF through its pre- and co-processing facilities, which is then used as energy to run cement kilns. The impact of producing and using RDF not only saves on energy from conventional sources but also helps large cities manage municipal waste in a safe manner. Mega cities like Mumbai are now working with cement companies to manage municipal waste through a symbiotic relationship that benefits manufacturers and city administrators.
Red mud, a waste derived from aluminium production, is also now used in the cement manufacturing process as an alternative raw material. Again, this helps build a circular economy through utilisation of aluminium industry’s by-products in an environmentally sound manner. Other large industrial sectors like pharmaceuticals also tapped for zero residue of their process waste and ETP sludge. Similarly cement manufacturers are also able to process hazardous wastes released by the automobile and automobile ancillary sector such as chromium, zinc and paint sludge, oil residue and cotton waste.
Water management is yet another area that is making cement manufacturing in India more sustainable. Apart from becoming water positive (returning more water than what is consumed) from an operations point of view, a lot is also being done under the larger banner of CSR where cement manufacturers are now active participants in water conservation projects, working along with local rural communities including farmers. Large cement manufacturers in India are also working on conserving biodiversity in their areas of operations including large afforestation projects, which helps in strengthening the water table.

Conclusion
India today has a very robust legislative mechanism to ensure that industrial sectors like cement abide by environmental laws. But cement manufacturers, recognising the growing environmental consciousness among consumers, are actively pursuing higher benchmarks to minimise burden on environmental damage. With the growing consumer centricity that has moved cement from being a commodity to a branded consumer product, manufacturers are now able to offer sustainability as part of the brand value and appeal. Green cement as a product in India is still in its nascent stage with a miniscule share in the overall market. It is expected to grow in coming years as sustainability is an important factor for today’s buyers.
Today’s well-informed consumers also expect manufacturers to play a more responsible role in protecting the environment through sustainable manufacturing practices. The transformation of the Indian cement sector has only begun.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ajay Kapur, CEO – Cement Business, Adani Group has over 30 years of expertise in the cement, construction, power and heavy metals sector. He has been extensively involved in several business forums, such as CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM.

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TSR Will Define Which Cement Companies Win India’s Net-Zero Race

Published

4 days ago

April 27, 2026

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Jignesh Kundaria, Director and CEO, Fornnax Technology

India is simultaneously grappling with two crises: a mounting waste emergency and an urgent need to decarbonise its most carbon-intensive industries. The cement sector, the second-largest in the world and the backbone of the nation’s infrastructure ambitions, sits at the centre of both. It consumes enormous quantities of fossil fuel, and it has the technical capacity to consume something else entirely: the waste our cities cannot get rid of.

According to CPCB and NITI Aayog projections, India generates approximately 62.4 million tonnes of municipal solid waste annually, with that figure expected to reach 165 million tonnes by 2030. Much of this waste is energy-rich and non-recyclable. At the same time, cement kilns operate at material temperatures of approximately 1,450 degrees Celsius, with gas temperatures reaching 2,000 degrees. This high-temperature environment is ideal for co-processing, ensuring the complete thermal destruction of organic compounds without generating toxic residues. The physics are in our favour. The infrastructure is not.

Pre-processing is not the support act for co-processing. It is the main event. Get the particle size wrong, get the moisture wrong, get the calorific value wrong and your kiln thermal stability will suffer the consequences.

The Regulatory Push Is Real

The Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules 2026 mandate that cement plants progressively replace solid fossil fuels with Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF), starting at a 5 per cent baseline and scaling to 15 per cent within six years. NITI Aayog’s 2026 Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation targets 20 to 25 per cent Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) by 2030. Beyond compliance, every tonne of coal replaced by RDF generates measurable carbon reductions which is monetisable under India’s emerging Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). TSR is no longer a sustainability metric. It is a financial lever.

Yet our own field assessments across multiple Indian cement plants reveal a sobering reality: the primary barrier to scaling AFR adoption is not waste availability. It is the fragmented and under-engineered pre-processing ecosystem that sits between the waste and the kiln.

Why Indian Waste Is a Different Engineering Problem

Indian municipal solid waste is not the material that imported shredding equipment was designed for. Our waste streams frequently exceed 40 per cent to 50 per cent moisture content, particularly during monsoon cycles, saturated with abrasive inerts including sand, glass, and stone. Plants relying on imported OEM equipment face months of downtime awaiting proprietary spare parts. Machines built for segregated, low-moisture waste fail quickly and disrupt the entire pre-processing operation in Indian conditions.

The two most common failures we observe are what I call the biting teeth problem and the chewing teeth problem. Plants relying solely on a primary shredder reduce bulk waste to large fractions, but the output remains too coarse for stable kiln combustion. Others attempt to use a secondary shredder as a standalone unit without a primary stage to pre-size the feed, leading to catastrophic mechanical failure. When both stages are present but mismatched in throughput capacity, the system becomes a bottleneck. Achieving the 40 to 70 tonnes per hour required for meaningful coal displacement demands a precisely coordinated two-stage process.

Engineering a Made-in-India Answer

At Fornnax, our response to these challenges is grounded in one principle: Indian waste demands Indian engineering. Our systems are built around feedstock homogeneity, the holy grail of kiln stability. Consistent particle size and predictable calorific value are the foundation of stable kiln combustion. Without them, no TSR target is achievable at scale.

Our SR-MAX2500 Dual Shaft Primary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive) processes raw, baled, or loosely mixed MSW, C&I waste, bulky waste, and plastics, reducing them to approximately 150 mm fractions at throughputs of up to 40 tonnes per hour. The R-MAX 3300 Single Shaft Secondary Shredder (Hydraulic Drive), introduced in 2025, takes that primary output and produces RDF fractions in the 30 to 80 mm range at up to 30 tonnes per hour, specifically optimised for consistent kiln feeding. We have also introduced electric drive configurations under the SR-100 HD series, with capacities between 5 and 40 tonnes per hour, already operational at a leading Indian waste-processing facility.

Looking ahead, Fornnax is expanding its portfolio with the upcoming SR-MAX3600 Hydraulic Drive primary shredder at up to 70 tonnes per hour and the R-MAX2100 Hydraulic drive secondary shredder at up to 20 tonnes per hour, designed specifically for the large-scale throughput that higher TSR ambitions require.

The Investment Case Is Now

The 2070 Net-Zero target is not a distant goal for India’s cement sector. It starts today, with decisions being made on the plant floor.

The SWM Rules 2026 are already in effect, requiring cement plants to replace coal with RDF. Carbon credit markets are opening up, and coal prices are not going to get cheaper. Every tonne of coal a cement plant replaces with waste-derived fuel saves money on one side and generates carbon credit revenue on the other. Pre-processing infrastructure is no longer just a compliance requirement. It is a business investment with a measurable return.

The good news is that nothing is missing. The technology works. The waste is available in every Indian city. The government has provided the policy direction. The only thing standing between where the industry is today and where it needs to be is the commitment to build the right infrastructure.

The cement companies that move now will not just meet the regulations. They will be ahead of every competitor that waits.

About The Author

Jignesh Kundaria is the Director and CEO of Fornnax Technology. Over an experience spanning more than two decades in the recycling industry, he has established himself as one of India’s foremost voices on waste-to-fuel technology and alternative fuel infrastructure.

Concrete

WCA Welcomes SiloConnect as associate corporate member

Published

3 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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The World Cement Association (WCA) has announced SiloConnect as its newest associate corporate member, expanding its network of technology providers supporting digitalisation in the cement industry. SiloConnect offers smart sensor technology that provides real-time visibility of cement inventory levels at customer silos, enabling producers to monitor stock remotely and plan deliveries more efficiently. The solution helps companies move from reactive to proactive logistics, improving delivery planning, operational efficiency and safety by reducing manual inspections. The technology is already used by major cement producers such as Holcim, Cemex and Heidelberg Materials and is deployed across more than 30 countries worldwide.

Concrete

TotalEnergies and Holcim Launch Floating Solar Plant in Belgium

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