CEE Jul-Sep-2012

maturity. The table as below correlates the Growth Phases with Growth Patterns in different countries in history of RMC , Growth No. of Countries Pattern Years to Rapid growth Normal Growth Slow Growth reach maturity 20-35 35-40 45 & above Greece, Finland, Japan, Germany, Switzerland etc. Spain, UK, USA, Austria, Australia, Sweden, etc. Portugal, France, Netherlands, Denmark, etc. Ready Mix Concrete in India Though the history of modern cement in India is now approx. 100 years old , the first commercial RMC plant was set up in 1993 in Pune. Since then the number of commercial RMC plants in both organized and unorganized sectors have grown to more than 800, though the total number of automatic batching plants In India well exceed 2000, with rest being set up by the contractors and construction companies on the construction site itself. These are also known as dedicated plants for captive consumption. While many authors who have published articles on this industry do not consider captive batching plants as part of RMC domain, but to my mind it will be erroneous if the captive plants are ignored, because in terms of concept and functioning these plants are same as any other commercial RMC plants. However, these agencies ignore the benefits of outsourcing from RMC manufacturers who have developed core competency in this segment for producing optimum quality product suitable for their specifi c purpose. The total annual concrete consumption in India is estimated at about 450 Million M 3 , this also includes the consumption of concrete in infrastructure projects which typically have Concrete Consumption In India in Million M3 PA 330 70 30 20 - - RMC- Commercial RMC - Dedicated On RMC- Dedicated Site Mixing Site Infrastructure Projects dedicated weigh batching plants. In addition there are many large building construction sites which have dedicated weigh batching plants. The breakup of the total concrete consumed between the concrete produced by ded icated weigh batching plants, commercial RMC plants, and volumetric site mixing can be seen from the graphic. Therefore while commercial RMC may be just about 7 - 8% of the total concrete consumed in India, the concrete produced by weigh batching is above 25% of the total concrete. Many authors on this subject tend to ignore the fact that the difference between the RMC and site mixing is not in who is doing it but is in how it is done. Hence taking this fact into consideration, the cement consumed through RMC in India is already in the range to 15- 20% of total cement, which puts India at par with the rest of the worl d in terms of the growth of RMC. The key difference between India and other countries is not in the fact that how the concrete is produced but is in the fact that where it is being produced, and this has more to do with the construction practices and industry structure that is unique to India. Construction Practices in India For the limited purpose of this article, practices in the construction involving use of concrete only have been considered. Barring infrastructure Y.D· ltct:d·S..O.-.. l'lfi· IA· I ~ ltOusnJ ~- S.Jtl: J94.J9S.)!l6,fp,J97/p.~l. projects, these constructions typically involve multi - floor framed structures, in which the enti re load of the building is on the column & beams which are of concrete. The roof is also cast in reinforced concrete. As can be seen from the picture above, the casting of the concrete is done at the construction site, unlike in Europe or in mature markets where the majority of the construction involve use of pre cast concrete elements as shown in the pictures below 2