Economy & Market

Core sector grew by 1.3% in Dec 2019

Published

6 years ago

January 2, 2020

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The core sector growth for December 2019 improved and grew by 1.3 per cent as against the 0.6 per cent contraction seen a month ago. However, it was lower than 2.1 per cent growth witnessed in December 2018.

During the first nine months of the fiscal year 2019-20, the fiscal deficit of the central government has surpassed its budgeted estimate. During April-December 2020, the actual fiscal deficit was at 132.4 per cent of the budget target. The fiscal deficit during this period was Rs 9.4 lakh crore, higher than higher than the budgeted Rs 7.04 lakh crore for FY20. Lower tax collections and lower disinvestment proceeds coupled with significant growth seen in both revenue and capital expenditure has led to higher fiscal deficit.

The revenue receipts collection was lower at only 58.4 per cent of the budget estimate lower than 62.8 per cent seen in the corresponding period last year.

Tax collections were low at 54.9 per cent of the budgeted estimate for FY20. The decline has been on account of lower corporate tax collection, integrated GST, customs and service tax.

Non-tax revenue was higher at 77.3 per cent of the budget estimate compared with 60.3 per cent in the corresponding period last year. These are aided by higher receipts by way of dividends and profits (99 per cent of the budgeted).

Capital receipts are only 25.9 per cent of the budget estimate much lower than the 50.5 per cent in the comparable period last year.

Only 17 per cent of the disinvestment budgeted target has been achieved during the first nine months of FY20, lower than the 43 per cent last year. Disinvestment proceeds amounted to Rs 18,100 crore out of Rs 1.05 lakh crore budget target.

Revenue expenditure is on par with last year at 75.7 per cent of the budget target.

Capital expenditure is higher at 75.6 per cent of budget compared with 70.6 per cent in the comparable period last year indicative of focus of the government on asset creation.

We are expecting around 0.5 per cent slippage in the fiscal deficit, which is expected to move to 3.8 per cent of GDP for FY20.

Core Sector update -December 2019
The core sector growth for December 2019 improved and grew by 1.3 per cent as against the 0.6 per cent contraction seen a month ago. However, it was lower than 2.1 per cent growth witnessed in December 2018. The growth has been aided by improvement in the production in 3 industries namely refinery products, coal and fertilizers. In terms of cumulative growth in the eight core industries during April-December 2019, the growth was 0.2 per cent compared with the 4.8 per cent growth registered during April-December 2018.

Industry-wise growth:

Coal production increased by 6.1 per cent in December 2019 over December 2018 with after sustained contraction seen in the previous five months.

Crude Oil production declined by 7.4 per cent in the month compared with the contraction by 4.3 per cent in the comparable month a year ago.

The production of the natural gas too has contracted by 9.2 per cent as against 4.2 per cent growth seen in December 2018 registering sustained contraction for the nine months.

Refinery products, which have highest weight in core sector, grew by 3 per cent as against a contraction by -4.8 per cent in December 2018.

Fertilizers have seen a double digit growth by 10.2 per cent in December 2019 as against -2.3 per cent de-growth seen in December 2018.

Steel production increased by 1.9 per cent in December 2019, after registering sustained contraction in the past 3 months. It is also lower than the 10.1 per cent growth seen in December 2018.

The production of cement grew by 5.5 per cent higher than previous month (4.3 per cent in November 2019) but it was much lower than the 11.6 per cent growth seen in December 2018.

Electricity production contracted for the successive fifth month in December 2019 by 1.9 per cent as against the 4.4 per cent growth seen in the corresponding month a year ago.

CARE Ratings- view
Based on the core sector growth, IIP is expected to grow by 2 per cent for December 2019 which would also be aided by the base effect. We are expecting IIP to grow by 4 per cent for FY20.

COURTESY: CARE RATINGS- Fiscal and Core Sector Update
Disclaimer: This report is prepared by CARE Ratings Ltd. CARE Ratings has taken utmost care to ensure accuracy and objectivity while developing this report based on information available in public domain. However, neither the accuracy nor completeness of information contained in this report is guaranteed. CARE Ratings is not responsible for any errors or omissions in analysis/inferences/views or for results obtained from the use of information contained in this report and especially states that CARE Ratings has no financial liability whatsoever to the user of this report.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Madan Sabnavis is Chief Economist. He can be contacted on: madan.sabnavis@careratings.com or 91-22-68374433

Dr Rucha Ranadive is Economist. She can be contacted on: rucha.ranadive@careratings.com or 91-22-68374406

Economy & Market

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

Published

2 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.