Amardeep Singh Bhatia, Secretary of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoC&I), inaugurated the 18th NCB International Conference & Exhibition on Cement, Concrete, and Building materials, held from 27th to 29th November, 2024 at Yashobhoomi, India International Convention & Expo Centre (IIC) Dwarka in New Delhi, Delhi.
- The conference was organised by the National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB), under the administrative control of the DPIIT, MoC&I.
- Theme of the conference was “Cement the Net Zero Future” which signifies India’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
Key People: Sanjiv Singh, Joint Secretary of DPIIT, MoC&I, was the guest of honour on the opening session of the conference; Dr. L P Singh, Director General (DG) of NCB; Neeraj Akhoury, Chairman of NCB; Mahendra Singhi, Member of Board of Director & Strategic Advisor, Dalmia Cement (B) Limited, among others were present at the event.
Highlights of the conference:
i.The 3-day conference witnessed the participation of over 1,000 delegates(including industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers from Indian and overseas), more than 600 visitors and over 140 students.
ii.During the event, Amardeep Singh Bhatia released a short film on 200 Glorious Years of Cement and Concrete Construction Industry, Conference Proceedings, Compendium titled “The Cement Industry-India 2024” and a publication focused on Alternative fuels and raw materials.
- He also inaugurated the Technical Exhibition held simultaneously with the conference.
iii.He also presented the NCB Lifetime Achievement Award to Padma Shri awardee Dr. HC Visvesvaraya in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the cement and concrete sector.
NCB Signed Two MoUs for Advancing Decarbonization and Technological Innovation in Cement Industry
During the conference, the NCB signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to promote decarbonization and technological innovation in the cement industry.
About MoUs:
i.The 1st MoU was signed between NCB and the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), India which aimed to encourage research in the field of decarbonization within the Indian cement sector.
- It was signed by Dr. L P Singh, DG of NCB and Manoj Rustagi, Director of GCCA, India.
- This will give a boost to India’s ongoing efforts to make the Indian cement industry “Net Zero” by 2070.
ii.The 2nd MoU was signed between NCB and AIC-Plasmatech Innovation Foundation in the application of the thermal plasma torch technology in cement production.
- The agreement was signed by Dr. L P Singh, DG of NCB and Dr. Nirav Jamnapara , Director of AIC Plasmatech.
National Awards for Indian Cement Industry Presented on the Concluding Day of the Conference
On 29th November 2024, Arti Bhatnagar, Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor of DPIIT, MoC&I presented the National Awards for Indian Cement Industry on the concluding day of the conference.
- These awards were given to the best participating cement plants in the field of energy excellence, improvement in energy performance, environment excellence, total quality excellence and achieving circular economy in integrated cement plants and energy and environment excellence in cement grinding units.
Note: The idea of these awards was 1st conceptualized at the 1st NCB International Seminar in 1987, and at the instance of the Ministry of Industry, the scheme of National Award for Energy Efficiency was started from 1986-87.
Key Points:
i.During the conference, Arti Bhatnagar released the ‘Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya (BND)’, an Indian Certified Reference Material of Gypsum Standard developed by NCB in partnership with NPL, NMI of India.
- BND plays a crucial role in achieving the goals of “Make in India”and “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” and will offer alternatives for the import of international CRM and help in saving Foreign Exchange.
ii.She also released the 8th edition of NCB Guide norms on cement plant operation on the concluding day of the conference.
iii.Mahendra Singhi, Member of Board of Governors and Strategic Advisor, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, was the guest honour on the last day of the conference. He presented certificates to the papers of Special Merit during the concluding day of the conference.
iii.During the 3-day conference, 150 technical papers were presented in 21 technical sessions, and 70 posters were digitally presented in 8 different sessions.
About National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB):
NCB was initially known as Cement Research Institute (CRI), was established on 24th December, 1962.
Director General (DG)- Dr. L P Singh
Headquarters- New Delhi, Delhi
