Economy & Market

From Grey to Green

Published

5 months ago

November 20, 2025

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Raman Bhatia, Managing Director, Servotech Renewable Power System, outlines how renewable energy integration, innovation and carbon capture can transform cement from a high-emission material into a driver of sustainable growth.

Cement forms the backbone of infrastructure and development, but it also contributes significantly to global CO2 emissions due to its energy-intensive production processes. As India accelerates its growth trajectory while committing to Net Zero ambitions, the focus on reducing the carbon footprint of cement production is more urgent than ever. We believe the theme of the 3Cs: Cut, Cement, Carbon, captures this transition with clarity, reflecting the need to rethink traditional manufacturing approaches, integrate renewable energy, and embrace new technologies that balance productivity with sustainability.

India’s cement industry in theNet Zero era
Cutting emissions in the cement industry is both an environmental necessity and a business imperative. Traditional cement production generates a lot of carbon from the fuels as well as the production process itself. To cut these emissions, producers are increasingly looking at fuel substitution with renewable energy sources, adopting waste heat recovery systems and integrating automation to maximise efficiency. Energy accounts for nearly a third of cement manufacturing costs, making energy efficiency a natural entry point for cutting carbon.
Renewable energy technologies are emerging as transformative solutions. Servotech Renewable has been contributing to this shift by delivering solar power systems, energy storage and green technology solutions that allow industrial plants to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. By integrating renewable energy directly into cement production units, the industry can meaningfully lower its energy-related emissions without compromising on output.
Equally important is innovation in cement itself. Supplementary cementitious materials such as fly ash, slag and calcined clay are viable substitutes that not only lower emissions but also utilise industrial by-products, contributing to a circular economy. The integration of green chemistry principles, alongside process innovations, is helping manufacturers reimagine cement as a material that supports sustainability goals. Servotech’s expertise in delivering scalable renewable energy infrastructure further complements these innovations, providing the reliable, clean power required to operate energy-intensive systems associated with advanced cement production technologies.
Carbon capture and utilisation are the third pillar of this transition. Even with the best practices in efficiency and fuel substitution, cement production will always generate some level of unavoidable CO2 due to calcination. To achieve true decarbonisation, the industry must actively invest in technologies that capture carbon at source and either store it or convert it into usable materials. Globally, pilot projects have already demonstrated the potential of carbon capture systems, and India is beginning to explore these avenues with growing interest. What makes this compelling is the possibility of turning a waste product into a resource that can be used for producing construction materials, fuels or chemicals, thereby creating an entirely new value chain.
A collaborative ecosystem involving manufacturers, renewable technology providers and policymakers is essential at this point to create a roadmap that is both technically feasible and economically viable. Servotech Renewable is playing a vital role in this ecosystem, as our technologies provide the renewable backbone required for decarbonisation efforts to succeed. By supporting cement plants in their transition to clean energy and offering advanced solutions for power stability, we ensure that ambitious sustainability goals translate into ground-level action.
The cement industry’s contribution to India’s GDP and infrastructure development is undeniable, but so too is its responsibility to align with the nation’s climate commitments. The journey toward decarbonisation requires bold investments, steady innovation and a willingness to adopt technologies that may initially seem disruptive but ultimately secure long-term growth. For decades, cement has symbolised strength and durability, but now it must also symbolize responsibility and sustainability. For us, the 3Cs framework highlights a future where cement is no longer viewed as a hard-to-abate sector but as an industry that took bold steps toward transformation.
Our mission aligns with this very vision, transitioning industries to cleaner, smarter, and more sustainable operations. Our expertise across renewable energy, energy storage, and green technology provides the tools and infrastructure for sectors like
cement to embrace decarbonisation meaningfully. As India pushes forward on its Net Zero journey, the cement industry’s ability to cut emissions, innovate materials, and capture carbon will define not
just the future of infrastructure but the resilience of our environmental and economic systems.
By integrating renewable power and carbon-neutral technologies, we can reimagine cement as a foundation not only for urban development but for a truly sustainable tomorrow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Raman Bhatia, Managing Director, Servotech Renewable Power System, is a renewable energy leader with over 25 years of experience driving India’s solar growth through innovation and sustainable solutions.

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Economy & Market

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

Published

2 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

2 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

Published

2 weeks ago

April 13, 2026

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TotalEnergies and Holcim have commissioned a floating solar power plant in Obourg, Belgium, built on a rehabilitated former chalk quarry that has been converted into a lake. The project has a generation capacity of 31 MW and produces around 30 GWh of renewable electricity annually, which will be used to power Holcim’s nearby industrial operations. The project is currently the largest floating solar installation in Europe dedicated entirely to industrial self-consumption. To ensure minimal impact on the surrounding landscape, more than 700 metres of horizontal directional drilling were used to connect the solar installation to the electrical substation. The project reflects ongoing collaboration between the two companies to support industrial decarbonisation through renewable energy solutions and innovative infrastructure development.