UltraTech Cement transports phosphogypsum on inland waterways
A 57,000t consignment of phosphogypsum has been transported in a bulk cargo carrier from Paradeep port in Odisha and reached the jetty of UltraTech Cement’s (Aditya Birla Group) integrated cement plant, Gujarat Cement Works (GCW), in Kovaya, Amreli district, Gujarat, on 26 April 2023.
Mr KC Jhanwar, UltraTech Cement Ltd's managing director, said, “The cement industry plays a pivotal role in driving the circular economy in India through the use of industrial and municipal waste in cement manufacturing. This industry-first initiative of UltraTech in using inland and coastal waterways for transport of phosphogypsum will help to further strengthen the role of the cement sector in driving circular economy in India.”
The legacy stock of phosphogypsum in India is estimated to be ~70Mt. Given that the total cement production in India during FY22-23 was ~400Mt, the cement industry has the potential to use about 16Mta of phosphogypsum.
This pioneering initiative of UltraTech to transport phosphogypsum through inland and coastal waterways has demonstrated the use of a multimodal supply chain as a cost-viable and safe transport option for other cement companies to replicate. In addition, the use of phosphogypsum, a byproduct of the fertiliser industry, to replace mineral gypsum as alternative material in cement manufacturing will help reduce dependence on mining of mineral gypsum in the country. This will also save precious foreign exchange funds for India as mineral gypsum is primarily imported. UltraTech will continue to leverage inland and coastal waterways for transport of phosphogypsum from Paradeep basis the production requirements at its Gujarat Cement Works factory.
The reutilisation of phosphogypsum, which is otherwise disposed of as industrial waste, has been identified as a key part of the circular economy vision enunciated by the Government of India. Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) focusses on gypsum reutilisation towards promoting the circular economy in India.
Bulk cargo carrier berthed at UltraTech's Gujarat Cement Works Jetty
