The Indian government has asked the cement industry to concentrate on modernisation and upgradation of technology, optimisation of operations and increased application of automation and information technology.

Ajay Shankar, secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, ministry of commerce and industry, said on Tuesday that the record of Indian cement industry in technology adoption and modernization is remarkable.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 10th NCB International Seminar on Cement and Building Materials, organized by the National Council for Cement and Building Materials in New Delhi.

Shankar complimented the cement industry for making full use of the liberalized policy and observed that besides achieving an increase in the entire domestic demand, the export of 9 million tonnes of cement is an outstanding achievement.

Saying that this has helped India in becoming the second largest producer of cement in the world after China, he said: "The industry needs to further concentrate on modernization and upgradation of technology, optimization of operations and increased application of automation and information technology. This will help to reduce the cost of production through saving of energy and enhancement of productivity and to create clean environment by reducing the emission levels."

Elaborating on the role of government in this regards, Shankar informed that government's efforts have been to encourage and help the industry in enhancing the level of consumption of cement by concentrating its efforts on thrust areas like faster implementation of infrastructure and irrigation projects, pushing housing development programmes, promotion of concrete highways and other roads, particularly concrete roads in rural areas.

He said the potential of other emerging building materials and technologies such as high performance concrete, self compacting concrete, fibre reinforced concrete, blended cements should be fully exploited in the construction industry, particularly in view of the massive infrastructure development envisaged in the immediate future in our country.

He also observed that this kind of seminar helps to take stock of technological status of plant and devise strategies for further development and for better competitiveness at national and global level.

About 700 delegates from across the world are participating in the four-day (27-30 November) Seminar. On this occasion, Ajay Shankar released a special publication titled "Sustainable Development of Indian Cement Industry and Infrastructure - Challenges".