Cement Industry Analysis

Overview

India is the world's second largest producer of cement after China. There is a total number of 125 large cement plants and more than 300 small cement plants operating in India presently. India has per capita consumption of mere 125 kg as against China of 800 kg, 960 kg of South Korea and 450 kg of Thailand.

The Indian cement industry is a mixture of mini and large capacity cement plants, ranging in unit capacity per kiln as low as 10 tpd to as high as 7500 tpd. Majority of the production of cement in the country (94%) is by large plants, which are defined as plants having capacity of more than 600 tpd. At present there are 124 large rotary kiln plants in the country. The Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) enjoys the major share (56%) of the total cement production in India followed by Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and Portland Slag Cement (PSC). A positive trend towards the increased use of blended cement can be seen with the share of blended cement increasing to 43%. There is regional imbalance in cement production in India due to the limitations posed by raw material and fuel sources. Most of the cements plants in India are located in proximity to the raw material sources, exploiting the natural resources to the full extent. The southern region is the most cement rich region while other regions have almost same cement production capacity. The Indian cement industry is about 90 years old and its main sources of energy are thermal and electrical energy. The thermal energy is generally obtained from coal, and the electrical energy is obtained either from grid or captive power plants of the individual manufacturing units.

On the technological front, Indian cement Industry can be regarded as highly competitive and is comparable with the best in the world, in terms of quality standards, fuel consumption etc. Indian cement plants, which depended heavily on wet technologies in the sixties and seventies, have subsequently shifted to modern energy efficient... [continues]

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