Economy & Market

Cleaning Up Villages

Published

10 years ago

July 31, 2016

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ACC Limited?s Green Building Centers house sanitation parks, an innovative and accessible solution for villages in Maharashtra to become open defecation free.

ACC?s Chanda Cement Works in Maharashtra has taken up sanitation as a major focus area and has already successfully transformed the neighbouring village of Hanuman Nagar into a safe sanitation zone with 100 per cent toilet installation, making it an ?Open Defecation Free? (ODF) village.

The entire village of Hanuman Nagar celebrated this occasion, in the presence of other senior officials of the company including Gopika P Tiwari, Cluster Head-West & Central, and Martin Kriegner, India Head, LafargeHolcim, who was the chief guest of the programme. Kriegner officially declared Hanuman Nagar village as ODF in the presence of Sarpanch Yenak and all panchayat members. Sanitation, especially in rural areas, continues to remain a major concern, mainly due to two root causes – lack of awareness around the ill-effects of open defecation and lack of relevant infrastructure.

ACC Chanda Cement Works collaborated with Gramodyog Sangh to create a Green Building Center in the town of Bhadravati in Chandrapur District, as part of a ?Sanitation for Life? programme. The Green Building Center, apart from being a one-stop shop for affordable and environment-friendly building materials, also houses a sanitation park, which displays models of individual toilet designs, available at affordable rates for villagers to purchase.

Pratyush Panda, Head CSR, ACC Limited, further explained, "The first step in fighting this concern was to create awareness. Therefore, in association with the local community, representatives and the Gram Panchayat, a massive awareness drive was organised, educating villagers about the hazards of open defecation and urging them to install toilets in their individual homes/common premises, thus making villages free from open defecation."

March 2016 became a milestone for ACC?s Chanda Cement Works, when 100 per cent toilet construction work was completed in the village.

(This article has been authored by R Nand Kumar, Vice President-Corporate Communications, ACC Limited).

Concrete

WCA Welcomes SiloConnect as associate corporate member

Published

7 hours 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

7 hours 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.

Concrete

Cortec® Corporation applauded for its strong safety performance

Published

7 hours ago

April 13, 2026

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Cortec® Corporation has been recognised for its strong safety performance, receiving its sixth Governor’s Workplace Safety Award for its outstanding performance in 2025. As a Silver Achievement recipient, the company continues to maintain safety metrics well above national industry averages, an impressive accomplishment for a chemical manufacturing organisation. This achievement reflects Cortec’s proactive approach to workplace safety, focused on early hazard detection and employee involvement. The company will be formally recognised at the Minnesota Safety and Health Conference in May, highlighting how industrial companies are effectively strengthening workplace safety standards.