Towards a Clean, Green Future for Indian Cement

The Indian cement industry has already entered a phased transition mode towards net-zero goals by 2070, driven by higher renewable adoption, alternative fuels, and advanced technologies like CCUS.

September 21, 2026. By News Bureau

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articles

Shrivats Singhania

JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd.

Green future

Cement manufacturing

Indian cement industry

Bureau of Energy Efficiency

Global Cement and Concrete Association

India is the world’s second-largest cement producer, with an installed cement capacity of about 670 million tonnes, accounting for over eight percent of the world's total cement production capacity.

Ironically, India’s cement industry is also responsible for the world’s second-largest carbon dioxide emissions after China, which is the world’s largest cement producer. India accounts for 7-8 percent of the country’s emissions. This is despite the fact that the per capita consumption of cement in India is 257 kg, almost half the global average of 540 kg, with an estimate of reaching 877 kg by 2070. Cement is one of the eight core industrial sectors of India, and it is energy- and emissions-intensive. With cement demand on the rise, and with the government’s focus on infrastructure and housing, the numbers are set to see a pronounced upward trend.

Cement manufacturing is an energy-intensive process, and despite the fact that Indian companies operate among the most energy-efficient dry-process kilns (India's average of Thermal and Electrical Energy Consumption outperforms global average) globally, the sector relies heavily on the coal and captive power plants for its heavy thermal and electrical needs. Limestone Calcination is one of the main contributors, accounting for about 57-60 percent of the sector’s emissions as raw limestone chemically converts into clinker. Next comes fuel combustion, which contributes roughly 27-30 percent from heating kilns with fossil fuels like coal and pet coke. Add to that electricity use that makes up the remaining 10-13 percent for grinding, auxiliary operations, and grid or captive power.

The good news is that the Indian cement industry is already aware of these numbers and has proactively stepped up interventions to not only rectify the situation, but also to take bold steps ahead, which will put India as a leader in building a low-carbon cement industry. These interventions include commitment to Net-Zero; green energy transition through adoption of renewable power and substitution of fossil fuel with Alternative Fuel and Raw Materials ( AFR); higher percentage of low-carbon blended cement in the product-mix and energy efficiency improvements.

The Indian government has also brought in cement under its PAT (Perform, Achieve and Trade) scheme, which is a mandatory market-based cap-and-trade programme designed to reduce energy consumption in large energy-intensive industries. As an incentive, the government sets plant-specific or sector-specific energy-efficiency targets and allows excess energy savings to be traded through Energy Savings Certificates.

According to the Government’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency, cumulative energy savings in the cement sector through subsequent PAT cycles could reach 34.46 million tonnes of oil equivalent by 2030.

The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) India and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) have created a structured roadmap for the Indian cement industry which aims to lower average emissions intensity to 560 kg CO2e/ton of cementitious by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

But one of the most promising developments has been the adoption of renewable energy, with leading companies installing a total capacity of 1,800 MW by 2024, aiming to add another 5 GW by 2030, according to the GCCAI. It states that the Indian cement sector has transitioned to dry processes, adopted renewable energy, implemented waste heat recovery systems and increased the production of blended cement to change the production and carbon profile of Indian cement. The average use of alternative fuels in the sector has already crossed six percent while some players have successfully scaled over 20 percent.

Increasingly, the character of Indian cement is changing to reduce the carbon intensity as companies take a lead in producing blended cement, with a noticeably lower clinker content compared to Ordinary Portland Cement. Using green inputs and recycling industrial waste like ash from power plants, instead of raw limestone, is fast becoming the norm. This has had a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions and raw material costs. To reduce energy costs and greenhouse gases, companies are exploring captive wind and solar power options.

One of the breakthrough products from the Indian stables is Limestone Calcined Clay Cement, or LC3, which is revolutionising the face of Indian cement. JK Lakshmi Cement, for instance, has launched Green products like the JK Lakshmi Green PRO LC3 and JK Lakshmi Green+ Cement, which reduce emissions by replacing energy-intensive clinker with fly ash. These two can reduce carbon emissions by up to 40 percent.

Aggressively, cement makers are moving towards solar power to augment their energy needs through clean and renewable sources. They are using Waste Heat Recovery Systems (WHRS) to capture and harness residual heat from operational processes and use renewable energy for almost half of the unit's power needs.

While the Indian cement industry has been catering mostly to the domestic market, the scenario will change dramatically when they increase capacity and looks for exports, as regions like Europe have very strong and strict norms as far as carbon footprint and emissions are concerned. Hence, these moves of change and transformation will augur well for the Indian cement sector as it tries to assume a global stature.

The Indian cement industry has already entered a phased transition mode towards net-zero goals by 2070, driven by higher renewable adoption, alternative fuels, and advanced technologies like Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS). Apart from a change in the physical infrastructure, it needed a change in vision and mindset, and the Indian industry has adapted to that change extremely well. Low clinker, blended cements, increased renewable energy and cleaner processes like CCUS, which trap Carbon Dioxide emissions, are now the order of the day. A Green chapter has already been written in the history of the Indian cement industry. The future is bright.

By Shrivats Singhania, Deputy Managing Director, JK Lakshmi Cement Ltd.