'Long way to go to improve per capita cement consumption'

The domestic cement industry has a long way to go to improve the country's low per capita consumption, a senior official said today.
Joint Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Ravneet Kaur also said the government will support the cement industry to facilitate usage of alternate fuels and raw materials (AFR).
"Indian cement industry, currently producing 7 per cent of the global cement requirement, has a long way to go to improve the country's per capita consumption at a dismal low as yet," an official statement quoted Kaur as saying.
She was speaking at an international conference on 'Alternate Fuels and Raw Materials in Cement Industry - Towards Realising Swachh Bharat Dream'.

The industry is putting in efforts to enhance the AFR usage to increase the thermal substitution rate which is very low at 1 per cent as against the average 60 per cent world over, the statement added.
Cement Manufacturers' Association President S Chouksey highlighted the various initiatives taken by the industry in the effective utilisation of the alternate fuels, fly ash and slag.