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August 30, 2008


Indian cement makers energy consumption seen falling

According to a report released by the CII Green Business Centre, the Indian cement industry’s average thermal energy consumption is likely to come down to 710 kilo calorie per kilogram of clinker in the next 2 years. The report states that in the next 2 years the average electricity consumption will fall to around 78 kWh for a tonne of cement. This is in comparison to the average electricity consumption of 82 kWh per tonne and thermal energy consumption of 725 kilo calorie per kilogram in 2005-06.

Mr G Jayaraman chairman of Cementech 2008 and also executive president of Birla Cement Corporation said that "The improvements in energy performance in the recent past have been possible largely due to retrofitting and adoption of energy efficient equipment, better operational control and optimization." He added that companies have also upgraded the process control and instrumentation facilities, which have helped them in energy performance.

Mr Jayaraman said that "If the current trend of energy consumption is maintained then in the next 5 to 6 years the electrical energy consumption is likely to be between 56 kWh to 62 kWh a tonne and the thermal energy consumption will be around 650 kilo calorie per kilogram of clinker." He added that during the current fiscal there is likely to be a capacity addition of around 40 million tonnes and most of the new plants which are coming up have adopted better energy practices.

According to estimates, the energy requirement of the cement industry is likely to go up by over 50% in the next 2 years and that is why companies are looking at adopting more efficient and eco friendly fuels. The total capacity of the industry is likely to touch 350 million tonnes by the end of the current 5 year Plan from 185 million tonnes at present.

Mr Jayaraman said that some of the cement plants in India were operating with specific energy consumption numbers, which are the best in world. He added that "The cost of energy has been the predominant driving factor for such advancement in energy efficiency. However, we cannot do a like to like comparison with factories in the Western countries as the operational time of the plants here is much more than in Western countries. Also, the plants there have superior quality of coal, power situation is better and also may of them use oil and gas. So the situations are totally different."