On one hand, Holcim, Lafarge & the Birla Group are fighting it out for control of India’s cement sector. But what is alarming on the other hand is that no matter who wins in this war, environment may most certainly turn out to be the loser. That’s because it’s 
one of those industries, which has by far got one of the worst track records in terms of drastically altering the environmental balance in India.
Chandra Bhushan, Head of the GRP and Associate Director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), while speaking to B&E, elaborates on the absolute fallacy of this sector in India, “One simply cannot use the term sustainable for the cement industry, since it doesn’t fulfil the requirements of environmentally sustainable industry. Raw material it uses is non-renewable and its produce is non recyclable.” What is even more compelling is that Bhushan is using such harsh words despite the fact that there is a significant reduction in air pollution and the Indian cement majors today are among some of the world’s most energy efficient producers. The power consumption of ACC, for instance, has declined very drastically. Against 97 KWH per tonne of cement in 2000-01, it has come down to 88 KWH in Apr-Dec 05. Even Grasim’s cement division has won various environment accolades – The Greentech Environment Excellence Gold Award & also the Chattisgarh State’s Sant Gahira Guru Parayavaran Puraskar for environment management.
one of those industries, which has by far got one of the worst track records in terms of drastically altering the environmental balance in India.Chandra Bhushan, Head of the GRP and Associate Director, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), while speaking to B&E, elaborates on the absolute fallacy of this sector in India, “One simply cannot use the term sustainable for the cement industry, since it doesn’t fulfil the requirements of environmentally sustainable industry. Raw material it uses is non-renewable and its produce is non recyclable.” What is even more compelling is that Bhushan is using such harsh words despite the fact that there is a significant reduction in air pollution and the Indian cement majors today are among some of the world’s most energy efficient producers. The power consumption of ACC, for instance, has declined very drastically. Against 97 KWH per tonne of cement in 2000-01, it has come down to 88 KWH in Apr-Dec 05. Even Grasim’s cement division has won various environment accolades – The Greentech Environment Excellence Gold Award & also the Chattisgarh State’s Sant Gahira Guru Parayavaran Puraskar for environment management.
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Source: IIPM Editorial, 2007
An IIPM and Management Guru Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri's Initiative
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