Raju Ramchandran, SVP & Head Manufacturing – Eastern Region, Safety and Sustainability, Nuvoco Vistas, discusses how AFR is turning cost pressure into a competitive edge for cement makers.

As cement producers navigate rising raw material costs and mounting emission-reduction mandates, alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR) have moved from a sustainability checkbox to a core operational strategy. Raju Ramchandran, SVP & Head Manufacturing – Eastern Region, Safety and Sustainability, Nuvoco Vistas, backs digitalisation and process innovation in this exclusive interaction.

What is your current approach to increasing the use of alternative fuels and raw materials across your cement manufacturing operations?
Alternative fuel and raw materials (AFR) have been a key focus area as we work towards reducing emissions while improving cost efficiency. At Nuvoco, sustainability is integral to our company’s vision and we remain committed to strengthening circularity across our operations. Over the years, we have steadily adopted practices around reuse, recycling and resource optimisation across our value chain – from raw materials and energy to water, waste and packaging. This has enabled us to minimise our dependence on virgin resources while creating more efficient and sustainable operations.
From a fuel perspective, we are actively re-optimising our power and fuel mix by replacing conventional fossil fuels with alternative fuels. In FY 2025-26, we achieved an AFR rate of 10 per cent. Our kilns are designed to safely utilise a wide range of waste streams, including biomass, Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) from municipal solid waste, industrial solid waste and liquid solvents.
During the year, we co-processed ~3.5 lakh tonnes of industrial waste across our integrated plants and grinding unit furnaces, utilising 2,67,263 MT of alternative fuel to replace conventional fossil fuel-which included co-processing 88,600+ metric tonnes of refined Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF). We are also focusing on biomass and other lower-carbon fuels to further reduce our carbon footprint. Beyond sustainability, AFR supports cost optimisation by reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels and improving fuel flexibility in our operations.
Going forward, we aim to scale AFR adoption through stronger sourcing and process optimisation, helping build more resilient and cost-efficient operations. With rising raw material costs, we are also increasing the use of alternate raw materials while maintaining product quality. Our R&D wing, Construction Development and Innovation Centre (CDIC), plays a key role in testing ARMs at its state-of-the-art Mumbai laboratory and developing tailor-made recipes to optimise their use. This entire effort is consistent with the government’s roadmap to raise fuel substitution to around 15 per cent over the next few years.

Which alternative fuels and raw materials offer the greatest potential for reducing dependence on conventional fossil fuels and virgin materials?
A diversified mix of waste-derived fuels and industrial by-products offers significant potential to reduce our dependence on conventional fossil fuels and virgin raw materials, while maintaining operational efficiency and product quality. On the alternative fuels front, RDF, biomass and agrowaste, as well as industrial wastes and liquid solvents, offer strong substitution potential. In FY 2025-26, RDF and biomass/agrowaste contributed ~ 2.0 per cent and ~ 3.0 per cent, respectively, to our thermal fuel mix, with overall AFR utilisation at ~ 10.00 per cent.
Greater adoption of alternative fuels also helps in reducing petcoke consumption. For alternative raw materials, fly ash, slag variants, pond ash, conditioned ash, alternative gypsum and recycled minerals are key areas of focus. These materials help reduce clinker intensity and dependence on virgin mineral resources.
We see considerable scope to scale these solutions through stronger sourcing ecosystems, process optimisation and continued R&D, enabling greater resource efficiency while maintaining the quality and performance of our products.

What are the key technical, economic and operational challenges limiting the large-scale adoption of AFR in cement plants?
Scaling AFR adoption in cement plants involves addressing technical, supply chain and economic challenges. The primary one is feedstock variability-waste-based fuels differ widely in quality, composition, and calorific value, making it complex to maintain stable kiln performance.
As India’s waste ecosystem evolves, improving source segregation and aggregation can help create a more reliable supply of quality feedstock. Further investments in pre-processing (shredding, drying) and material-handling systems, along with efficient logistics, will support greater AFR adoption. At the plant level, maintaining the right balance
between higher AFR substitution, clinker quality and emission-norm compliance will remain important, with strong process controls enabling plants to scale adoption sustainably.

How are you ensuring consistent quality, availability and preprocessing of alternative fuels and raw materials to maintain stable kiln operations?
At Nuvoco, higher AFR usage is never pursued at the cost of product quality or environmental compliance. Our approach is built on a well-defined governance framework and trained plant teams who ensure AFR is embedded into daily operations. To ensure supply continuity and material readiness, we work closely with municipalities, authorised waste processors, and logistics partners to create stable, long-term sourcing networks in a fragmented
waste market.
We focus on standardising fuel specifications and making targeted investments in pre-processing infrastructure to ensure that incoming material is usable and efficient for our kilns. For instance, we have installed dedicated shredders across three integrated plants and expanded carbon black feeding bin capacity from 15 MT to 28 MT at our Nimbol Cement Plant.
To ensure uniform feeding, we deployed an in-house AFR screw feeding system at Chittor Cement Plant, (which drove a 34 per cent increase in AFR usage) and a low-CV liquid spray system at Arasmeta Cement Plant capable of processing up to 350 KL/month.
Once in operation, we rely on real-time monitoring of critical parameters-including kiln performance, emissions, and clinker quality-to ensure stable operations. When managed effectively, higher AFR substitution does not create trade-offs; instead, it enables sustainable operations while maintaining strict product quality and emission compliance.

What role are digitalisation, process optimisation and advanced combustion technologies playing in improving AFR substitution rates?
Digitalisation is becoming a big lever in improving Thermal Substitution Rates (TSR). Earlier, a lot of decisions around fuel mix and kiln optimisation were based on experience and manual adjustments. We are leveraging advanced analytics and AI to bring greater precision and consistency to kiln operations.
Under our DIRE (Digitalisation, Innovation and Renewable Energy) framework, we are leveraging AI-enabled business analytics dashboards on Power BI that give us real-time visibility into kiln operations, fuel mix, and waste heat recovery, helping teams take quicker and better decisions on the ground. Alongside this, we are developing an AI model that recommends the most efficient fuel mix, factoring in variables like moisture, cost, and operating conditions.
To further optimise performance, we have conducted catalyst and activator trials at multiple plants to reduce Specific Heat Consumption (SHC) and Specific Power Consumption (SPC), complemented by 24/7 condition monitoring and AI-driven predictive diagnostics via IoT sensors installed across kiln and mill circuits. The real shift is from being reactive to becoming predictive, anticipating what works best rather than adjusting after the fact. This not only helps improve TSR but also drives efficiency and cost optimisation.

How do you assess the overall environmental and economic benefits of AFR, including carbon reduction, waste diversion and energy savings?
AFR delivers benefits across carbon reduction, resource conservation and cost efficiency. Environmentally, AFR directly reduces our consumption of coal and petcoke and the associated CO2 emissions. Nuvoco continues to report among the lowest carbon intensity in the Indian cement industry, at 462.50 kg CO2 per tonne of cementitious material (FY26). It also diverts significant waste from landfills-in FY 2025-26, we co-processed ~3.5 lakh tonnes of industrial waste. From an economic standpoint, greater fuel substitution can reduce exposure to volatile petcoke and coal prices while improving overall fuel efficiency.
Overall, the combination of lower emissions, waste diversion, resource efficiency and fuel flexibility makes AFR an important lever for building a more sustainable and cost-efficient cement industry.

What needs to change across policy, waste management infrastructure and industry collaboration for India to significantly scale up AFR adoption?
Policy frameworks have played a critical role in advancing AFR adoption in India. As highlighted in NITI Aayog’s cement sector decarbonisation roadmap, the use of alternative fuels such as RDF is a key lever for reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency in the industry. This is further reinforced by the GCCA India-TERI (2025), Decarbonisation Roadmap for the Indian Cement Sector: Net-zero CO2 by 2070, which also emphasises scaling AFR as a key pathway for decarbonisation in the cement sector.
Regulatory support through Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) co-processing guidelines and the Hazardous Waste Rules has enabled cement plants to safely utilise waste as an alternative fuel, creating a structured pathway for adoption. Our operational strategy directly aligns with these national frameworks and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mandates.
More recently, policy direction has become even stronger. The government’s notification in January 2026 outlines a clear roadmap to increase fuel substitution rates from current levels to around 15 per cent over the next few years, along with measures to improve waste processing infrastructure. This provides both clarity and momentum for the industry to scale up AFR usage. At the same time, the opportunity lies in execution. Improving waste segregation at source, ensuring consistent availability of quality RDF, and strengthening coordination across municipalities, waste processors and industry will be critical to fully realise this potential.

• Kanika Mathur