The 13th NCB International Seminar on Cement and Building Materials opened it doors to over 800 delegates, including 125 overseas delegates at the Manekshaw Center in New Delhi, India, this morning.
Torch lighting to start the 13th NCB International Seminar on Cement and Building Materials
The conference celebrates 50 years of the National Council for Cement and Building Materials. During the opening ceremony, flowers where presented in memory of the birth of the late Indira Ghandi by the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Dr E M S Natchiapann.
Dr E M S Natchiapann during the inaugural session
In his welcome address, Dr Natchiapann said: "There are huge resources available in India, with lots of opportunity for development. India is opening all doors and windows for development." He noted that cement as a building material was now catching up in villages, which will increase demand. He then went on to talk about national investment manufacturing zones (NIMZ) and outlined the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor – an ambitious project that has attracted interest from foreign investment groups.
In his closing remarks, the minister highlighted that the media have been given much more power in India. He requested the world's countries to pay more attention and come forward to invest in technology transfers to support its growing young population of students and entrepreneurs.
Main speaker stage at the
NCB's 13th International Seminar
Giving a technical perspective of the Indian cement industry, Ashwani Pahuja, director general of the NCB, outlined his thoughts for green and sustainable growth using the three Ps - Profit, People and Planet. He mentioned the Indian cement industry is the second largest after China with 350Mta of production capacity. It has made great technological strides with 90 per cent of the plants now using dry-process technology and producing 12,000tpd with average energy use of 75kcal/kg of clinker produced.
He stated that alternative fuels are expected to play an important role in the future of the Indian cement industry alongside waste heat recovery systems. Some 110MW of cogeneration capacity has been installed to date. He added that 93 plants have achieved ISO 9001 certification with a further 64 gaining ISO 14001. The conference continues...
