Economy & Market

Dalmia brand and Mary Kom stand for core values of perseverance and commitment

Published

5 years ago

October 14, 2021

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BK Singh, Senior Executive Director – Group Marketing & Corporate Communication, Dalmia Bharat

Our core concept supports better and innovative products, services and better ways doing business, hence holistically delivers best value to the key stakeholders, the trade partners, customers and end consumers, says BK Singh, Senior Executive Director – Group Marketing & Corporate Communication, Dalmia Bharat. Singh explains the motive of the company in roping in Mary Kom as their brand ambassador, as well as their branding strategies. Excerpts from the interview.

Could you share with us what made you rope in Mary Kom as brand ambassador?

As a brand with a national presence, we wanted our brand to be symbolised as national and yet local. Mary Kom fitted the slot perfectly and the timing was just right, after her Olympic win. Both the Dalmia brand and Mary Kom stand for the core values of perseverance, breaking of tradition and above all, of commitment. Our entry into this region is a serious step; we are committed to the people of the north-east. Hence, for us the right personality mattered.

Does this indicate the importance of region specific branding that could connect well with the people and their culture, and create a positive link?

You are right, while the core position of the brand of Dalmia is that of being a premium brand, trusted over 70 years and yet modern in approach like the latest technology, we need to activate according to the nuances of the markets that we plan to serve. Mary Kom is from the region and people will proudly identify with her. This brings in a connection and a direct to the heart link, as well as a unifying symbol of the land of the Seven Sisters.

There is so much of movement in your new logo; it gives an impression of continuous flow.

Yes, the identity and logo of the Dalmia brand is a very thoughtful representation of the various facets of this organisation, like expertise built over 70 years, its Indian core, traditional yet modern. It is a response to the new young India. The colourful windmill represents the tricolour of our nation, a fresh and progressive spirit. The italics fonts depict dynamism.

There is a greater shift towards the concept of green sustainability in the cement industry. But the same does not seem to be reflected in the brand positioning of the company.

Well, the industry is actively sensitive and a few companies including Dalmia are deeply involved in a well-designed sustainability programme. In fact, ‘new think’ embodies new hope, new ideas, and new directions. Thus, the brand positioning fits perfectly, creating a safe, healthy sustainable world for the India of the future. You will be happy to know that we are the third Indian cement company invited to join the Cement Sustainability Forum (CSI, Geneva, Switzerland, part of World Business Council for Sustainable Development). We have won many awards both at the national and international levels for our green sustainability efforts.

How do you rate your brand positioning in terms of differentiating a product and creating value?

As the positioning indicates, the brand stands for innovations and fresh ways to deliver value to our customers. These manifest in many forms while in the interaction or consumption stage. This then creates the foundations for differentiation. In the north-east, we have adopted new packaging, a first in industry quality assurance hologram which supports the best- in-quality product inside. Additionally, we have introduced various innovative programmes to connect with trade partners, customers and influencers, used technology to support speed, efficiency and above all, a new delightful experience. Our positioning has helped define our delivery in product, service, emotional quotient and overall value to all our stakeholders.

How do you view the potential of aligning with sports?

The strength of the positioning of the brand gives that flexibility to encompass wider areas of creating value, including sports. In fact, we are behind our brand ambassador in her effort to popularise her favourite sports in her own way. We are open to any opportunity in future to connect and unleash the immense potential of the sportsmen of the region.

Do you think this will help create the trust in different set of customers like retail, institutional and corporate customers?

The core is fresh and new ways of doing things and it is in response to the new India, the growing India. India is at the cusp of becoming an economic superpower and eventually finding its rightful place in the world order. We believe the youth of India has a significant role in this journey, and fresh ideas and approaches naturally connect with them. The core concept supports better and innovative products, services and better ways doing business with, and hence holistically delivers the best value to the key stakeholders, the trade partners, customers and end consumers.

Was the rural-urban divide a problem while designing the ad campaign?

It can be a challenge for any marketing organisation but as we see the power of communication and information flow becoming seamless and instantaneous, the expectations start converging. Hence, my personal view is that the core concept can be universal across markets while the delivery medium will need calibration and fine- tuning as per the type of markets and consumers.

Economy & Market

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

Published

23 hours 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.