Shree Cement has inaugurated a 60 m³/hour ready-mix concrete plant in Patna, Bihar, under its Bangur Concrete brand. The facility takes the company’s ready-mix concrete (RMC) network to 36 plants across India and strengthens its presence in eastern markets.

The plant was inaugurated by Neeraj Akhoury, managing director of Shree Cement, in the presence of senior company officials and other guests. It has been established to serve demand for ready-mix concrete in Patna and neighbouring areas, where infrastructure development, urban expansion and real estate activity are supporting construction growth.

The facility is designed to supply construction projects across Patna and surrounding markets. Its installed capacity of 60 m³/hour will enable Bangur Concrete to serve customers across the region while improving distribution and supply capabilities in eastern India.

The expansion is intended to improve customer service, strengthen the company’s market presence and support development activity in Bihar. The plant incorporates modern batching technology, material handling systems and quality control processes aimed at maintaining consistency in production and improving operational efficiency.

With the addition of the Patna facility, Bangur Concrete now operates 36 RMC plants across India. The business is expanding its footprint in key construction markets to improve customer access to ready-mix concrete, which is increasingly used in infrastructure, commercial and residential projects because it supports controlled production, consistent quality and more efficient material management at construction sites.

The facility will also follow environmentally responsible operating practices, in line with Shree Cement’s focus on sustainable construction solutions. The latest addition adds capacity to the company’s RMC operations and supports its efforts to serve regional construction markets as development activity continues across Bihar.

Ambuja Cements has proposed a 2.9 mn tonnes per annum (MTPA) cement grinding unit in Godda district, Jharkhand, as part of a Rs. 145 bn expansion programme. The plan is intended to lift the company’s overall cement capacity to 155 MTPA by financial year 2029-30 (FY30), from its current 113.5 MTPA.

The proposal forms part of the Adani Group company’s wider manufacturing expansion across eastern and northeastern India, according to a company statement issued on Monday. The Godda unit would add grinding capacity to Ambuja Cements’ network and is intended to help serve demand in Jharkhand and neighbouring states.

Locating production closer to these markets is expected to reduce transportation costs and delivery times, while the project could support employment in plant operations, maintenance, logistics and administration. The company also linked the facility to indirect activity in transportation, contract services, construction, warehousing and local supply chains.

The expansion plan includes a 2.9 MTPA grinding unit each in Assam and Bihar, as well as additional clinker capacity in Assam. Together, the projects are designed to distribute manufacturing capacity more widely and improve the connection between clinker production and grinding operations, Ambuja Cements’ cement-business chief executive Vinod Bahety said.

Clinker is the intermediate material produced before it is ground and blended to make cement, making the Godda proposal part of a broader materials and logistics network rather than an isolated facility. Ambuja Cements has not provided a commissioning timeline, a Godda-specific investment breakdown, land details or a detailed employment estimate in the supplied announcement.

The project’s impact will depend on implementation of the plant, associated transport links and local supply chains. The announcement sets out the capacity objective but does not specify the project’s construction schedule or operational start date.

Authored by Jordana Georgin, Dison S. P. Franco, Claudete Gindri Ramos and Noureddine El Messaoudi, this review, published in Sustainability (Vol. 18, 2026, Article 7383), examines cement industry impacts on air, water, soil and noise, and assesses technologies to mitigate pollution and ecological risks.

The report identifies cement manufacturing as a significant contributor to India’s greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for approximately 6 per cent to 7 per cent of the country’s total emissions. It identifies three principal sources: limestone calcination, responsible for 56 per cent of sector emissions; fuel combustion, contributing 32 per cent; and electricity consumption, accounting for the remaining 12 per cent. Despite significant improvements in energy efficiency over the past decade, the report notes that further reductions will require structural changes in production processes, material utilisation and energy sourcing.
India’s cement industry already operates among the world’s most energy-efficient sectors, with average thermal energy consumption of approximately 731 kcal/kg of clinker and electrical energy consumption of 73 kWh/tonne of cement, compared with global averages of 838 kcal/kg and 104 kWh/tonne, respectively. The report emphasises that future decarbonisation must therefore go beyond incremental efficiency improvements and focus on alternative fuels, clinker substitution, renewable electricity and carbon capture.

Strategic levers for reducing emissions
The report identifies five strategic levers for decarbonisation. Increasing the use of alternative fuels such as biomass and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) could reduce dependence on conventional fossil fuels; however, these fuels currently account for only 6 per cent of the energy used to heat cement kilns in India. The report recommends increasing the thermal substitution rate to 20 per cent by 2030, supported by reliable fuel supplies and streamlined transportation and approval systems.
Clinker substitution through supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), including fly ash, slag and limestone calcined clay cement (LC3), offers another significant opportunity, with the potential to address 7 to 15 per cent of cement-sector emissions. The report also identifies electricity decarbonisation through renewable power, waste heat recovery and efficient grinding systems as important interventions. India’s installed waste heat recovery capacity stands at 538 MW, with potential to reach approximately 1,100 MW.

Emerging technologies and low-carbon cement
The report highlights LC3, composite cement and geopolymer cement as promising alternatives to conventional Portland cement. LC3 combines clinker, calcined clay, limestone and gypsum, with the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40 per cent compared with traditional Portland cement. Pilot projects and early commercial trials in India have demonstrated clinker reductions of 30 per cent to 40 per cent while maintaining comparable performance to ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The report also identifies Noida International Airport (Jewar) as India’s first large-scale deployment of LC3.
Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is identified as a long-term solution for addressing process emissions that cannot be eliminated through conventional efficiency measures. The report notes that carbon capture costs typically range from US$ 40–120 per tonne of CO2, highlighting the need for supportive policies, shared infrastructure and investment. Emerging technologies such as mineralisers, fluidised-bed calcination, low-pressure-drop cyclones and high-efficiency classifiers are also identified as opportunities to further reduce energy consumption and emissions.

Conclusion
The report recommends a phased approach to decarbonisation, beginning with the scaling of composite cement, LC3, alternative fuels, renewable electricity and waste heat recovery between 2025 and 2030. The second phase, covering 2030–2040, focuses on higher alternative-fuel substitution rates, electric logistics fleets and emerging technologies such as oxyfuel kilns. The final phase, from 2040 to 2070, prioritises the deployment of CCUS and potentially green hydrogen to address residual emissions.
The study concludes that achieving India’s net zero ambitions will require coordinated action across the cement value chain, supported by technology development, investment, evolving standards and stronger policy frameworks. It also highlights the importance of market acceptance and demand-side measures, including green public procurement and low-carbon construction practices. By combining immediate efficiency improvements with long-term technological transformation, India’s cement industry can reduce emissions while maintaining competitiveness and supporting sustainable infrastructure growth.