CEE April-June 2012

NIGERIAN CEMENT FIRMS CALL FOR IMPORT BAN Nigerian cement makers have called on the government to impose a ban on cement imports even before the August deadline. They are claiming that the volume of cement currently produced in the country is enough to meet local demand. "Government should enforce the ban before the August deadline," said Daljeet Ghai , Group Chief Executive, Dangote Cement. "Dangote alone has the capacity needed to meet local demand and sustain supply of the commodity across the nation." He said. According to industry sources, Lafarge, Bruno Lafont also said that with the new plant commissioned by the company, the country is now self-sufficient in cement. The country's total cement production capacity is now at 22.5 million metric tonnes (mmt) per annum while the country's cement consumption is 18.5 mmt. Courtesy: Construction Industry Review, April30, 2012, P11 . Sustainable Infrastructure STEEL SECTOR IN INDIA: A CRISIS BREWING The domestic steel sector that supports the growth of economy's key manufacturing and infrastructure sectors is going through an unprecedented slowdown. Worse, the union government sees no silver lining in the horizon. In fact, the Steel Ministry has painted a bleak picture of the sector in the next five year plan period (2012- 2017) beginning this April. It has predicted a demand growth that would be lower than even that during the tenth plan, while pegging production only a notch higher. Al so, both the growth indicators would just be marginally up from the current plan achievements. Steel is one of the eight core infrastructure industries that have a combined weight of 38 per cent in the index of industrial production. A host of issues, including a historic low demand, supply constraints at the back of a lull in commissioning of green-field projects coupled with a severe raw material crunch from the ongoing crisis in coal and iron ore sectors has brought down the sector's growth to an all time low. Such bottlenecks, added to a depleting production efficiency of the integrated steel majors like SAIL and RINL, have left the government worried. The prospects of domestic demand appear grim and gloomy on the eve of launching the 12'h five-year plan, according to the government working group for the 12'h five year plan, chaired by then steel secretary P. K. Misra. Also, all the macro– economic indicators point out the onset of overall economic slowdown of the Indian economy which will have a profound impact on investment, the body states in its recent report. Both production and consumption of steel during the current plan period at 5.8 per cent and 8.8 per cent respectively were significantly lower than the 9.4 per cent and 10.4 per cent during the 10 111 plan period. Even for the 12'h five-year plan, the steel sector is unlikely to achieve a double digit growth a goal that was initially set for the current plan period. The government a modest 9.1 per cent growth in consumption through 2017, even assuming a high gross domestic product growth rate of over 8 per cent, against 8.8 per cent over the past five years. Steel demand grew by 8.8 per cent during the pat four years of current plan period , compared to 10.4 percent in the 10 1 h plan. Courtesy: FIMI (The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries) News Bulletin, March 1 51 , 2012, Pp14-15. Sustainable Development GREEN BUSINESS LEADERSHIP AWARD 2011- 2012 Shree Cement being a climate friendly business organization committed to sustainable growth has been awarded the "Financial Express (FE) - Emergent Ventures India (EVI) Green Business Leadership Award, 2011." Shree Cement will continue to fulfill its commitment to lead towards Low Carbon Economy, reports the company. TRAFFIC & TRANSPORTATION PLANNING FOR INDIAN CITIES IN 2022: RESEARCH CHALLENGES Dr. G.J. Joshi, Associate Professor, P. G. Centre in Transportation Engg. & Planning Civil Engineering Department, S.V. National Institute of Technology, Sural Preamble The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has established three strategic agendas for 2020- inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Factors 56