The Indian cement industry enjoys a reputation for being among the best in the world.

- Dr. SB Hegde

President - Manufacturing, Kanodia Cement, and Visiting Professor Penn State University, USA

Cement industry is a major contributor to air pollution by way of PM, CO2, SOx, NOx and methane. How is the pollution level currently in Indian cement plants?

The Indian cement industry is the second-largest producer of cement globally. In the financial year 2021, the industry had crossed a turnover of more than Rs 65,000 crore. The Indian cement industry enjoys a reputation for being among the best in the world.

The new pollution limits for Particulate Matter (PM) is 30 mg/Nm3. This limit depends upon the age and location of the plant. The limit of sulphur dioxide (SOx) emitted from a cement plant was increased from 100 mg/Nm3 to 100-1,000 mg/Nm3. The limit for nitrogen oxide (NOx) was relaxed from 600 -800 mg/Nm3 to 600-1,000 mg/Nm3. At present, almost all major cement plants are in the process of meeting the norms set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

What are the evolving trends in pollution control at Indian cement plants?

Some of the evolving trends are using low-NOx burners with the optimum level of excess air, use of low sulphur fuels in the kiln, and operating control systems to achieve the required emissions levels. For controlling air pollution, equipment such as scrubbers, air filters, cyclones, electrostatic precipitators, and mist collectors are being used.

What is required more is to develop a strong ecosystem in each plant to undertake environmental management responsibilities.

What are the latest sustainability practices followed?

Some of the sustainability practices followed by the Indian cement industry are:

• Substituting clinkers with fly ash, slag and combination of fly ash and slag in case of PPC, PSC and composite cement respectively, which are readily available and reduces emissions and fuel consumed for producing clinkers
• Using electrostatic precipitators, etc to check air pollution
• Using alternative fuel resources, also, to go for solar energy and installation of waste heat recovery systems
• Co-processing, i.e., using waste materials as fuel by burning them in the high temperature of the kilns. This also effectively disposes of solid waste.

What are the new-age digital and IoT-based technologies used in cement plants for better efficiency and productivity?

Industry 4.0 is a lever to introduce the right technology to reduce costs and apply more to the bottom line across the entire cement value chain. It also gives the option of running more plants remotely, and this will help attract talent in a time where we have a skill gap.

Industry 4.0 digital innovations, from advanced data analytics to intelligent networks, offer tremendous opportunity to create value and raise the efficiency of production processes.

The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, exploits new technologies to create powerful connections between physical and digital systems. Several manufacturing industries have already implemented 4.0 solutions to good effect. Mining companies, for example, are using data about equipment health to predict potential failures, while aeronautics and automotive companies are using robotics and end-to-end digital twins to improve their design and production processes. Not surprisingly, first adopters in many industries have gained an edge over their competition.

Producers that move quickly to employ 4.0 technologies can therefore gain a powerful competitive advantage over their peers.

How are you prepared to meet the emerging demand in construction and infrastructure development?

The following seven actions can help leaders prepare for the next normal:

• Accelerate rollout and adoption of digitization. There is no time to experiment with the perfect road map. Organizations must instead enable well-proven remote use cases.
• Invest in the culture and skills needed to operate in the next normal. Balancing performance and health is critical at any
  point in time—and it's that much more important in these turbulent times. Industry players must invest proportionately in culture to erode not only risks related to remote work but also apprehension across the workforce regarding job security and productivity.
• Strengthen supply-chain: Most ECB players have already reviewed their supply chains for vulnerabilities due to the pandemic; they must now look at options for fortification—such as building inventory, identifying backup distribution channels, and recruiting direct labour to replace subcontractors.

How do you look at the market opportunities in future for your products?

The Union Budget 2022 is aimed at the growth of the country's economy by strong thrust on infrastructure development of the country. It is expected that cement demand in the new fiscal is anticipated to grow in the range of 8-9%. The capital outlay for the infrastructure projects increased to 35% in FY2023 and investments in core sectors like railways, roadways, multimodal logistics park and renewable energy.

Constructing 80 lakh houses under PMAY, both rural and urban supported by budgetary allocation of Rs 480 billion along infrastructure projects to Rs 7.5 trillion including additional allocation of Rs one trillion towards state government projects is expected to increase the cement demand.

Needless to say, all our products are expected to sell like a hot cake and it is anticipated all our plants are sold out due to strong demand in the months to come.

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