Economy & Market

Prioritise durability—use premium basic bricks

Published

5 months ago

December 12, 2025

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Sunil Kumar Gupta, Chief Project Officer, Star Cement, discusses how evolving refractory technologies and smarter pyro-processing strategies are redefining performance, durability and cost efficiency.

In recent years, increase in use of alternative fuels, volatile operating conditions and tighter thermal-efficiency targets have reshaped how kilns and preheater lines are designed, lined and monitored. In this interview, Sunil Kumar Gupta shares with how these innovations are strengthening uptime, clinker quality and the future-readiness of India’s pyro-processing systems.

How have refractory demands changed in your kiln and pyro-processing line over the last five years?
Over the past five years, the operational demands on kiln and pyro-processing refractories have intensified, driven by higher kiln throughput and more impact on volume requirements, more stringent thermal-efficiency targets, and the accelerated adoption of alternative fuels (AFR) and mine life- day by day it’s a big challenge.
These factors have necessitated a shift away from conventional alumina-based brick systems toward engineered basic refractories, spinel-forming linings, and high-performance monolithic materials capable of withstanding greater thermal fluctuation, mechanical stress, and chemical attack.

What is the biggest refractory-related challenges you face in preheater, calciner and cooler zones?
Every zone has its own challenges:
A. Preheater
B. Calciner
C. Cooler

A. Preheater

Fluctuating feed chemistry increases coating instability and causes lining erosion.
High-speed gas streams and dust-laden environments accelerate abrasion, especially around bends and risers.

B. Calciner

AFR combustion introduces reducing conditions and alkali–sulphur interactions, which attack conventional refractories.
Localised hotspots form due to fuel injection patterns, leading to thermal shock and micro-cracking.

C. Cooler

Clinker breakage patterns cause heavy mechanical wear near the bull nose and in the tertiary
air duct.
Modern coolers operate with rapid thermal cycles, which stresses monolithics and metallic anchors.
The overarching challenge is selecting materials that balance chemical resistance, thermal shock capability, and mechanical strength under constantly changing process conditions.
With the kiln, we are facing the problem of frequent breakdowns of the kiln bricks, specifically in the burning zone. So far, we were using high alumina but now we are planning to go with basic bricks to have more reliability and the longer operation duration of the kiln.

How do you evaluate and select refractory partners for long-term performance and life-cycle cost?
We evaluate the refractive suppliers based on the following four aspects:
A. Technical Capability
B. Engineering and Design Support
C. Life-Cycle Economics
D. Partner Support and Collaboration
Selecting a refractory partner is not simply a materials purchase, it’s a strategic procurement decision that directly affects plant uptime, process stability, and long-term operating cost. An effective evaluation approach should consider below pillars:

A. Technical Capability
The refractory supplier must demonstrate strong materials performance backed by reliable laboratory testing and consistent production quality. Key technical criteria include:

Cold Crushing Strength (CCS), abrasion and erosion resistance-Indicates mechanical durability against clinker dust, gas flow, and material movement.
Chemical resistance and corrosion testing-Confirms the refractory’s ability to withstand alkali attack, clinker phases, alkali sulphates/chlorides, and reducing/oxidizing atmospheres.
Thermal shock resistance and spalling index-Evaluates resistance to rapid temperature changes and cycling—critical in cement kilns, coolers, risers, and cyclones.
Density and porosity consistency across batches-Ensures uniform behavior in service and
reduces the risk of localized weaknesses or premature failures.
PCE (Pyrometric Cone Equivalent) testing-Measures refractoriness—the temperature at which the refractory begins to soften under its own weight—ensuring suitability for high-temperature zones.

B. Engineering and Design Support
A strong partner provides engineering expertise that prevents failures before they occur.
This includes:

Proper lining design and zoning
Thermal calculations, heat loss modeling, and expansion joint design
Wear-profile analysis and historical performance audits and installation specifications

Engineering support directly influences service life, coating stability, and thermal efficiency.

C. Life-Cycle Economics
Assess the total cost of ownership rather than just initial material costs. This includes installation expenses, refractory maintenance frequency, downtime costs during replacement or repair, and energy efficiency improvements. Refractory partners who provide detailed life cycle cost analysis and emphasise value over initial price help optimise long-term operational costs. Transparent communication about the refractory’s expected service life and maintenance needs is crucial for selecting partners focused on minimizing life-cycle cost.

D. Partner Support and Collaboration
Select refractory partners who offer technical support, expert consultation, and a collaborative approach to tailor solutions. Partners committed to understanding your specific operational conditions, providing training, and proactively addressing performance issues tend to enhance overall refractory service life and reliability.

Can you share a recent instance where improved refractory selection enhanced uptime or clinker quality?
We recently deployed magnesium–iron spindle bricks, which perform exceptionally well across burning, pre-burning and post-burning zones. Their coating-friendly behaviour in the burning zone improves brick life, while their high density in other zones allows stable operation with minimal coating.
By combining coating bricks in the burning zone with non-coating bricks elsewhere, we avoided issues like excessive coating near the tyre area, which can push the kiln into reduction conditions and affect clinker quality. Modern burners with short, hot flames and lower primary air have also helped stabilise coating and heat distribution.
Overall, optimised brick selection paired with the right burner design has improved uptime, reduced wear and delivered more consistent clinker quality.

Use of advanced spinel bricks in kiln linings:

One 2025 case study described how a cement plant replaced its conventional magnesia-chrome refractory lining in a large dry-process rotary kiln with Magnesium Iron Spinel Brick (and in some cases synthetic magnesium-iron-aluminum spinel) for the kiln’s hot zones.
After the switch, the plant saw its kiln-lining life extended by over 20 to 30% compared to previous linings — raising lining life from the typical ~8 to 9 months to ~12 to 15+ months without relining.
This led to a significant reduction in unplanned shutdowns (fewer relining, fewer maintenance events), improving overall operational uptime.
Because the refractory was more chemically and thermally stable under high temperature and corrosive conditions, the kiln could maintain a more stable thermal profile, which supports consistent clinker formation and improved clinker quality (more uniform mineralogy, less variation due to thermal or chemical stress).

How is the increased use of alternative fuels impacting refractory behaviour in your pyro-line?
Usage of alternative fuels has adverse effect on refractory behaviour in the pyro-line:

A. Higher chemical attack
Alternative fuels (RDF/SRF, biomass, sludge, waste oils) introduce more alkalis, chlorides, and sulphur, cause corrosion of basic bricks, softening of castable, and loss of lining in kiln inlet, riser, and calciner and leads to unstable coating and accelerated wear.

B. More aggressive ash chemistry
AF ash often contains reactive SiO2, Fe2O3, CaO, metals, increases abrasion in kiln inlet and preheater and Generates slag and fluxing reactions that weaken MgO-based bricks.

C. Higher thermal instability
AFs vary in moisture and calorific value, as a result it results in less predictable combustion, produces temperature swings, spalling, microcracks and falling rings and creates hot spots due to irregular flame shape.

D. Changed coating behaviour
AF-related chemistry modifies coating growth and stability. More volatile coating exposes burning zone bricks and overcoating or build-ups in inlet and riser resulting in mechanical damage and choking.

What are plants doing to counter it:

Switching to MgO–spinel bricks and alkali-/chloride-resistant castables.
Adding SiC or abrasion-resistant linings in high-velocity or high-ash zones.
Improving burner control, AF dosing, and raw mix balancing.
Using sacrificial layers, redesigned anchors, and better insulation to protect main linings.What role does digital monitoring or thermal profiling play in your refractory maintenance strategy?
Thermal profiling and digital monitoring have become essential predictive-maintenance tools for managing kiln and preheater performance. Online shell scanners now provide continuous thermography from inlet to outlet, helping teams assess coating behaviour and refractory health. Drone-based thermography is gaining popularity because it captures hotspots in areas manual checks cannot reach, especially inside cyclones and the calciner during shutdowns. Alongside kiln and cooler cameras, emerging instruments such as cooler-bed thickness sensors further optimise operation. Together, these technologies deliver better KPIs, more stable coating and improved refractory life.

A. Kiln Shell Temperature Monitoring (IR scanners and cameras)
Continuous kiln shell scanning identifies:
Hot spots signaling refractory thinning or brick loss
Misalignment, ovality, and ring formation through temperature pattern changes
Overloaded or under-performing burners by observing flame/heat profile
This allows maintenance teams to plan brick patching or section repairs before a shell deformation or blowout occurs.

B. Cooler Monitoring (grate cooler and tertiary air duct)
Thermal sensors and camera systems help:

Spot grate cooler hot spots that indicate coating issues or refractory wear
Track TA duct temperatures to avoid thermal shock or lining scouring
Maintain proper heat recovery efficiency, which directly impacts refractory life
Digital data ensures that refractory life is maximised by maintaining stable thermal conditions.

How do you balance cost, durability and installation speed when planning refractory shutdowns?
Balancing cost, durability and installation speed in cement plant refractory shutdowns is challenging because each section of the process line has different wear mechanisms, temperature profiles and maintenance needs. The strategy below is designed specifically for cement kilns, preheaters, calciners, coolers, riser ducts and cyclones:

A. Kiln burning zone: Prioritise durability—use premium basic bricks. They are more expensive and slower to install, but failures here are extremely costly.
B. Transition zone, calciner and riser ducts: Prioritise speed and cost—use gunning castable and lower-grade bricks. These provide fast installation, are economical, and offer adequate durability for these areas.
C. Cyclones and high-wear areas: Use low-cement castable combined with precast blocks to achieve a balance of durability and installation efficiency.
D. Cooler: Use precast shapes in the hot zones and abrasion-resistant castable elsewhere. The bottom (impact) area is especially critical and requires high-wear-resistant castable.
Use precast blocks to save time as and when justified and use conventional castable in areas
where cost and installation time are lower priorities. Always base decisions on life-cycle cost, not just material price.

Which refractory or pyroprocessing innovations will transform Indian cement operations?
The refractory and pyroprocessing landscape for cement plants in India (and globally) is evolving — and several innovations are taking shape that could significantly transform how cement operations are run: improving durability, lowering energy usage, cutting downtime, and boosting sustainability. Here are the key innovations likely to shape the future of cement-plant refractories and pyro-processing — along with what they mean for Indian operations.
A. Advanced refractory materials: Nano-engineered, spinel-rich, alkali-resistant bricks and ULCC/LCC castable for longer life and fewer shutdowns.
B. Precast and fast-install solutions: Precast blocks, engineered shapes, and fast-dry castable to reduce shutdown time and improve reliability.
C. Digitalisation and predictive monitoring: Kiln shell scanners, thermal imaging, IoT sensors, digital twins and AI-based kiln control for early detection and optimised operation.
D. Refractory recycling and low-carbon materials: Circular-economy reuse of spent refractories and development of low-CO2 refractory mixes.
E. Fuel-flexible and sustainable pyro-processing: Refractories and kiln designs adapted for alternative fuels (RDF, biomass), higher AF substitution, and eventually hybrid/electric kiln concepts.

Together, these innovations will help Indian plants achieve higher thermal efficiency, lower CO2 intensity, and more stable running conditions.

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Concrete

Filtration Technology is Critical for Efficient Logistics

Published

6 hours ago

May 15, 2026

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Niranjan Kirloskar, MD, Fleetguard Filters, makes the case that filtration technology, which has been long treated as a routine consumable, is in fact a strategic performance enabler across every stage of cement production and logistics.

India’s cement industry forms the core for infrastructure growth of the country. With an expected compound annual growth rate of six to eight per cent, India has secured its position as the second-largest cement producer globally. This growth is a result of the increasing demand across, resulting in capacity expansion. Consequently, cement manufacturers are now also focusing on running the factories as efficiently as possible to stay competitive and profitable.
While a large portion of focus still remains on production technologies and capacity utilisation, the hidden factor in profitability is the efficiency of cement logistics. The logistics alone account for nearly 30 per cent to 40 per cent of the total cost of cement, making efficiency in this segment a key lever for profitability and reliability.
In the midst of this complex and high-intensity ecosystem, filtration often remains one of the most underappreciated yet essential enablers of performance.

A demanding operational landscape
Cement production and logistics inherently operate in some of the harshest industrial environments. With processes such as quarrying, crushing, grinding, clinker production, and bulk material handling expose the machinery to constant high temperatures, heavy loads, and dust, often the silent destructive force for engines.
The ecosystem is abrasive, and often one with a high contamination index. These challenging conditions demand equipment such as the excavators, crushers, compressors, and transport vehicles to perform and perform efficiently. The continuous exposure to contamination across every aspect like air, fuel, lubrication, and even hydraulic systems causes long-term damage. Studies have also shown that 70 to 80 per cent of hydraulic system failures are directly linked to contamination, while primary cause of engine wear is inadequate air filtration.
For engines as heavy as these, even a minor contaminant has a cascading effect; reducing efficiency, performance and culminating to unplanned downtime. Particles as small as 5 to 10 microns, far smaller than a human hair (~70 microns), can cause significant damage to critical engine components. In an industry where margins are closely linked to operational efficiency, such disruptions can significantly affect both cost structures and delivery timelines.

Dust management: A persistent challenge
Dust is a natural by-product in cement operations. From drilling and blasting in the quarries to packing in plants, this fine particulate matter does occupy a large space in operations. Dust concentration levels in quarry and crushing zones often create extremely high particulate exposure for equipment. These fine particles, when enter the engines and critical systems, accelerates the wear and tear of the component, affecting directly the operational efficiency. Over time every block fall; engine performance declines, fuel consumption rises, and maintenance cycles shorten. In this case, effective air filtration is the natural first line of defence. Advanced filtration systems are designed to capture high volumes of particulate matter while maintaining consistent airflow, ensuring that engines and equipment operate under optimal conditions.
In high-dust applications, as in cement production, even the filtration systems are expected to sustain performance over extended periods without the need of frequent replacement. This becomes crucial in remote quarry locations where access to frequent maintenance may be limited.

Fluid cleanliness and system integrity
Beyond air filtration, fluid systems also play a crucial role for equipment reliability in cement operations. Fuel systems are required to remain free from contaminants for efficient working of combustion and injection protection. Additionally, lubrication systems also need to maintain the oil purity to reduce friction and prevent any premature wear of moving parts. The hydraulic systems, which are key to several heavy equipment operations, are especially sensitive to contamination.
If fine particles or water enters these systems, it can lead to reduced efficiency, erratic performance, and eventual failure of the system. Modern filtration systems are designed with high-efficiency media capable of removing extremely fine contaminants, with advanced fuel and oil filtration solutions filtering particles as small as two to five microns. Multi-stage filtration systems further ensure that fluid performance is maintained even under challenging operating conditions.
Another critical aspect of fuel systems is water separation. Removing moisture helps prevent corrosion, improves combustion efficiency and enhances overall engine reliability. Modern water separation technologies can achieve over 95 per cent efficiency in removing water from fuel systems.

Ensuring reliability across the value chain
Filtration plays a critical role across every stage of cement logistics:
• Quarry operations: Equipment operates in highly abrasive environments, requiring strong protection against dust ingress and hydraulic contamination.
• Processing units: Crushers, kilns, and grinding mills depend on clean lubrication and cooling systems to sustain continuous operations.
• Material handling systems: Pneumatic and mechanical systems rely on clean air and fluid systems for efficiency and reliability.
• Transportation networks: Bulk carriers and trucks must maintain engine health and fuel efficiency to ensure timely deliveries.
Across these operations, filtration plays a vital role; as it supports consistent equipment performance while reducing the risk of unexpected failures.
Effective filtration solutions can reduce unscheduled equipment failures by 30 to 50 per cent across heavy-duty operations.

Uptime as a strategic imperative
In cement manufacturing, uptime is currency. Downtime not only delays the production, but it also greatly impacts the supply commitments and logistics planning. With the right filtration systems, contaminants are kept at bay from entering the
critical systems, and they also significantly extend the service intervals.
Optimised filtration can extend service intervals by 20 to 40 per cent, reducing maintenance frequency while maintaining consistent performance across demanding operating conditions. Filtration systems designed for heavy-duty applications sustain efficiency throughout their lifecycle, ensuring reliable protection with minimal interruptions. This leads to improved equipment availability, lower maintenance costs, and more predictable operations, with well-maintained systems capable of achieving uptime levels of over 90 to 95 per cent in challenging cement environments.

Supporting emission and sustainability goals
With the rising environmental awareness, the cement industry too is aligning with the stricter norms and sustainability targets. In this scenario, the operational efficiency is directly linked to emission control.

Air and fuel systems that are clean enable
much more efficient combustion. They also reduce emissions from both the stationary equipment and transport fleets. Similarly, with a well-maintained fluid cleanliness, emission systems function better. Poor combustion due to contamination can increase emissions by 5 to 10 per cent, making clean systems critical for compliance.
Additionally, efficient and longer lasting filtration systems significantly reduce any waste generation and contribute to increased sustainable maintenance practices. Extended-life filtration solutions can reduce filter disposal and maintenance waste by 15 to 20 per cent. Smart and efficient filtration in this case plays an important role in meeting the both regulatory and environmental objectives within the industry.

Advancements in filtration technology
Over the years, there has been a significant evolution in the filtration technology to meet the modern industrial applications.
Key developments include:
• High-efficiency filtration media capable of capturing very fine particles without restricting flow
• Compact and integrated designs that combine multiple filtration functions
• Extended service life solutions that reduce replacement frequency and maintenance downtime
• Application-specific engineering tailored to different stages of cement operations
Modern multi-layer filtration media can improve dust-holding capacity by up to two to three times compared to conventional systems, while maintaining consistent performance. These advancements have transformed filtration from a basic maintenance component into a critical performance system.

Adapting to diverse operating conditions
The cement industry of India operates across diverse geographies. Spanning across regions with arid regions with higher dust levels, to the coastal areas with higher humidity, challenges of each region pose different threats to the engines. Modern filtration systems are thus tailored to address these unique challenges of each region.
Indian operating environments often range from 0°C to over 50°C, with some of the highest dust loads globally in mining zones.
Additionally, filtration technology can also be customised to variations which then align the system design with factors like dust load, temperature, and equipment usage patterns. Equipment utilisation levels in India are typically higher than global averages, making robust filtration even more critical. This approach ensures optimal performance and durability across different operational contexts.

Impact on total cost of ownership
Filtration has a direct and measurable impact on the total cost of ownership of equipment.
Effective filtration leads to:
• Lower wear and tear on critical components
• Reduced maintenance and repair costs
• Improved fuel efficiency
• Extended equipment life
• Higher operational uptime
Effective filtration can extend engine life by 20 to 30 per cent and reduce overall maintenance costs by 15 to 25 per cent over the equipment lifecycle. These benefits collectively enhance productivity and reduce lifecycle costs. Conversely, inadequate filtration can result in frequent breakdowns, increased maintenance expenditure, and reduced asset utilisation.

Building a more efficient cement ecosystem
With the rising demand across various sectors, the cement industry is expected to expand at an unprecedented rate. This growth is forcing the production to move towards a more efficient and resilient system of operations. This requires attention not only to production technologies but also to the supporting systems that enable consistent performance. Filtration must be viewed as a strategic investment rather than a routine consumable. By ensuring the cleanliness of air and fluids across systems, it supports reliability, efficiency, and sustainability.

The road ahead
The future of cement logistics will be shaped by increasing mechanisation, digital monitoring, and stricter environmental standards. The industry is also witnessing a shift towards predictive maintenance and condition monitoring, where filtration performance is increasingly integrated with real-time equipment diagnostics.
In this evolving landscape, the role of filtration will become even more critical. As equipment becomes more advanced and operating conditions more demanding, the need for precise contamination control will continue to grow. From quarry to construction site, filtration technology underpins the performance of every critical system. It enables equipment to operate efficiently, reduces operational risks, and supports the industry’s broader goals of growth and sustainability. In many ways, it is the unseen force that keeps the cement ecosystem moving, quietly ensuring that every link in the value chain performs as expected.

About the author
Niranjan Kirloskar, Managing Director, Fleetguard Filters, is focused on driving innovation, operational excellence, and long-term business growth through strategic and people-centric leadership. With a strong foundation in ethics and forward-thinking decision-making, he champions a culture of collaboration, accountability, and technological advancement.

Concrete

Cement’s Next Fuel Shift

Published

8 hours ago

May 15, 2026

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Jignesh Kindaria highlights how Thermal Substitution Rate (TSR) is emerging as a critical lever for cost savings, decarbonisation and competitive advantage in the cement industry.

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

Dalmia Bharat Cement launches water repellent cement brand Weather 365 in Eastern India

Published

8 hours ago

May 15, 2026

admin

The company has introduced water repellent cement to target rising consumer demand for weather-resilient housing solutions.

New Delhi, May 15, 2026

Dalmia Bharat Cement, one of India’s leading cement manufacturing companies, has launched Weather 365, a new super-premium water repellent cement brand aimed at addressing growing consumer demand for durable, weather-resistant construction materials in Eastern India. The product is positioned as a high-performance offering for consumers seeking long-term protection against seepage, dampness and moisture damage. The launch marks a strategic push by Dalmia Bharat Cement into the fast-growing premium cement segment, where consumer preference is increasingly shifting from price-led purchases to specialised, performance-oriented building materials.

Reinforcing its super-premium positioning, the product will be available in premium-quality water-resistant and tamper-proof BOPP packaging. ‘Weather 365’ will be introduced across its retail markets in West Bengal and Bihar.

In addition to the product rollout, the company will provide on-site technical support through its engineering and technical services teams to guide customers on best construction practices and improve long-term building performance.

Speaking on the launch, company spokesperson from Dalmia Bharat Cement said: “Weather 365 is a testament to Dalmia Bharat Cement’s relentless pursuit of innovation. Eastern India experiences prolonged monsoons, high humidity and challenging weather conditions that significantly impact the life of buildings and homes. Consumers today are actively looking for solutions that offer long-term protection and lower maintenance costs. Weather 365 is our answer to that need – a differentiated premium product that combines structural strength with advanced moisture protection that safeguards homes at every level, every season. We believe this category will see strong growth in the coming years.”

Weather 365 is a specialised cement product developed to meet the rigorous demands of modern construction in regions exposed to high humidity, heavy rainfall and extreme weather cycles. Designed for roofs, columns and foundations, it delivers end-to-end moisture protection across the entire home from the structure’s core to its visible surfaces. Its proprietary uniform water repellent technology helps reduce water penetration, minimize steel corrosion in RCC structures while preventing efflorescence and damp patches, thereby ensuring stronger concrete, improved paint life and long-lasting structural health. Positioned as a super-premium product in Dalmia Bharat Cement’s portfolio, Weather 365 targets discerning homeowners, contractors and builders who seek the best-in-class protection for their construction investments.

With a strong manufacturing and market presence across Eastern India, Dalmia Bharat Cement continues to strengthen its footprint in one of its key strategic markets. As the company advances towards its vision of becoming a pan-India cement leader, it remains focused on delivering innovative, premium construction solutions tailored to evolving consumer needs.

Dalmia Bharat Cement, a subsidiary of Dalmia Bharat Limited, is a leading player in the cement manufacturing segment and has been in existence since 1939. It is the first cement company to commit to RE100, EP100 & EV100 (first triple joiner) – showing real business leadership in the clean energy transition by taking a joined-up approach. With a growing capacity, currently pegged at 49.5 million tonne, Dalmia Bharat Cement is the fourth-largest cement manufacturing group in India by installed capacity. Spread across ten states and fifteen manufacturing units, the company is a category leader in super-specialist cement used for oil well, railway sleepers and airstrips and is the country’s largest producer of Portland Slag Cement (PSC).