Concrete

We see a future without waste

Published

2 years ago

March 19, 2024

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Sunil Kumbhar, CEO and Director, AltSF Process, talks about how automation, technology and a commitment to sustainability is driving them to reshape the future of cement production.

Tell us about the range of materials that your equipment can handle and process.
AltSF Process has designed various equipment for application of co-processing of the solid alternative fuels. All the equipment is designed to accept all possible materials, so that the cement factory gets the flexible system. With a flexible system they are always ready to receive any material having some calorific value for energy substitution. In general, we accept grain size up to 500mm, surface moisture content up to 45 per cent and density between 0.1 and 1.2 t/m3.

How does your process convert bulk material fit for consumption as an alternative fuel?
Ideally, suppliers of the alternative fuel or bulk materials should provide a processed waste to the cement industry. But if quality is poor, shredder and screening machines are necessary to pre-process the waste to convert them to RDF. Based on the type of available bulk material, we can select the appropriate equipment shredder, screening, separation and sorting for preparation of the RDF.

Tell us about your products and their role in the cement manufacturing process?
AltSF Process products are used mainly for co-processing of the alternative solid fuels. For cement factories using fuels in their process, it requires uniform flow of the fuel, safe feeding in the calciner or kiln. All our equipment is designed to handle this uniform flow needed. Alternative fuels tend to jam at every location, so critical design thinking is necessary for optimised layout designing, which the AltSF team is delivering to users.

What is the role of automation and technology in your products and services?
Handling alternative fuels, specifically these days, unprocessed municipal solid waste coming to cement plants is of very hazardous nature. Bad odour, unhygienic waste has a hazard to deploy people to work in handling these materials. Hence, cement plants require fully automated arrangements monitored from their control room for all operations. AltSF delivers fully automated arrangements for all handling stages like storage management, extraction of waste, accurate weighing, conveying and safe feeding inside the kiln.

How does the use of your products and services impact the productivity and efficiency of cement making?
For cement factories the priority is to make cement and this is achieved through a precise control of temperature and process times inside a pyro-process section. We help by providing a solution that works for them without hampering the cement making process. Our unique solutions with uniform flow and safe feeding at high temperature of calciner allows cement factories to use alternative fuels in big volumes. One of our installations is able to feed 60 tph of RDF, after necessary cement manufacturing process updates.

What are the major challenges that you face as a provider to the cement industry?
Working conditions in alternative fuels are not favourable for a person to work in, resulting in less manpower with correct skills available in this sector. AltSF Process management is very much service oriented and wishes their customers to use alternative fuels in its best possible way. But we need to spend a lot of time training new people at this stage. We are sure, with positive work on training from ASAPP, CII and NCCBM this skill levels will go up soon. We are sure, industry just started because of the high volume of fuels and within a few years,
our industry will have more skilled manpower for this sector.

How do you envision the future of use of alternative fuels in the cement industry?
We are sure, in the near future, the quantity of alternative fuels in the cement industry will grow. Cement industry co-processing provides the right platform for waste recycling, as there is no residue after use, everything becomes part of cement itself. Since we are the second largest cement manufacturer, we also have the capability to consume our waste in the right way, without hampering the environment. We see a future without waste and a cement industry with more than 80 per cent alternative fuels.

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Concrete

UltraTech Cement FY26 PAT Crosses Rs 80 bn

Company reports record sales, profit and 200 MTPA capacity milestone

Published

2 hours ago

April 29, 2026

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UltraTech Cement reported record financial performance for Q4 and FY26, supported by strong volumes, higher profitability and improved cost efficiency. Consolidated net sales for Q4 FY26 rose 12 per cent year-on-year to Rs 254.67 billion, while PBIDT increased 20 per cent to Rs 56.88 billion. PAT, excluding exceptional items, grew 21 per cent to Rs 30.11 billion.

For FY26, consolidated net sales stood at Rs 873.84 billion, up 17 per cent from Rs 749.36 billion in FY25. PBIDT rose 32 per cent to Rs 175.98 billion, while PAT increased 36 per cent to Rs 83.05 billion, crossing the Rs 80 billion mark for the first time.

India grey cement volumes reached 42.41 million tonnes in Q4 FY26, up 9.3 per cent year-on-year, with capacity utilisation at 89 per cent. Full-year India grey cement volumes stood at 145 million tonnes. Energy costs declined 3 per cent, aided by a higher green power mix of 43 per cent in Q4.

The company’s domestic grey cement capacity has crossed 200 MTPA, reaching 200.1 MTPA, while global capacity stands at 205.5 MTPA. UltraTech also recommended a special dividend of Rs 2.40 billion per share value basis equivalent to Rs 240.

Concrete

Towards Mega Batching

Optimised batching can drive overall efficiencies in large projects.

Published

1 day ago

April 28, 2026

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India’s pace of infrastructure development is pushing the construction sector to work at a significantly higher scale than previously. Tight deadlines necessitate eliminating concreting delays, especially in large and mega projects, which, in turn, imply installing the right batching plant and ensuring batching is efficient. CW explores these steps as well as the gaps in India’s batching plant market.

Choose well

Large-scale infrastructure and building projects typically involve concrete consumption exceeding 30,000-50,000 cum per annum or demand continuous, high-volume pours within compressed timelines, according to Rahul R Wadhai, DGM – Quality, Tata Projects.

Considering the daily need for concrete, “large-scale concreting involves pouring more than 1,000–2,000 cum per day while mega projects involve more than 3,000 cum per day,” says Satish R Vachhani, Advanced Concrete & Construction Consultant…

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Concrete

Andhra Offers Discom Licences To Private Firms Outside Power Sector

Policy allows firms over 300 MW to seek distribution licences

Published

2 days ago

April 27, 2026

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The Andhra Pradesh government will allow private firms that require more than 300 megawatt (MW) of power to apply for distribution licences, making the state the first to extend such licences beyond the power sector. The policy targets information technology, pharmaceuticals, steel and data centres and aims to reduce reliance on state utilities as demand rises for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Approved applicants will be able to procure electricity directly from generators through power purchase agreements, a change officials said will create more competitive tariffs and reduce supply risk. Licence holders will use the Andhra Pradesh Transmission Company (APTRANSCO) network on payment of charges and will not need a separate distribution network initially.

Licences will be granted under the Electricity Act, 2003 framework, with the Central and State electricity regulators retaining authority over terms and approvals. The recent Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025 sought to lower entry barriers, enable network sharing and encourage competition, while the state commission will set floor and ceiling tariffs where multiple discoms operate.

Industry players and original equipment manufacturers welcomed the policy, saying competitive supply is vital for large data centre investments. Major projects and partnerships such as those involving Adani and Google, Brookfield and Reliance, and Meta and Sify Technologies are expected to benefit as capacity expands in the state.

Analysts noted India’s data centre capacity is forecast to reach 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and cited International Energy Agency estimates that global data centre electricity consumption could approach 945 terawatt hours by the same year. A one GW data centre needs an equivalent power allocation and one point five times the water, which authorities equated to 150 billion litres (150 bn litres).

Advisers warned that distribution licences will require close regulation and monitoring to prevent misuse and to ensure tariffs and supply obligations are met. Officials said the policy aims to balance investor requirements with regulatory oversight and could serve as a model for other states.