Cement, Energy & Environment Jan-Mar 2002

National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB) wayback in early nineties in the form of testing of process equipment for energy efficiency in cement plants, through a compactly built mobile vehicular laboratory. Of late, this idea of moving laboratory has been used in A.P. Irrigation department for testing building materials. And recently the mobile laboratory has been immensely used for testing building materials in rebuilding of earthquake affected Gujarat region. NCB has been operating the mobile laboratories for expediting the construction. Courtesy : Indian Construction Jan. 2002, P-24. E-mail: bai@vsnl.com Web: www.buildersindia.com ACC TO BUY OUT ETEX GROUP FROM ETERNIT FOR RS.16 CRORE The Times of India Mumbai, 19.12.2001 Cement majorAssociated Cement Companies Ltd. (ACC) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) wit the Belgium– based EtexGroup to acquire the latter's 50 per cent stake constituting 74,00,010 shares of Etemit Everest Ltd. (EEL) for a consideration of Rs.l6.28 crore at Rs.22 per share. Etemit Everest is a leading building product company with 26 per cent market share in the domestic market followed by Roofit Industries, Hyderabad Industries. After the proposed acquisitionACC share will increase to 76 per cent from the present 26 per cent. The remaining stake in the company is held by public and financial institution. ACC had acquired the Belgiumcompany's stake piping its nearest rival Roofit Industries Ltd. ACC said EEL will become a subsidiary of ACC. Industry analysts are surprised at the move since ACC had decided to exit non-core areas and focus on cement. Courtesy : CMA, Cement News Digest, 16-31 Dec. 2002. E-mail: cmabb@bom3. vsnl.net.in USE OF RUBBERISED BITUMEN IN ROADS TO BE STUDIED The Union government will explore the feasibility of using rubberised bitumen in the construction of rural roads under the Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) to support the production and price of rubber. . The suggestion to use rebberised bitumen for road construction has come fromKerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony, Kerala is the largest producer of rubber. Union rural development minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has assured Antony that the proposal would be considered. The rural development ministry would discuss the economic feasibility of the move with the Indian Roads Congress. The roads laid down inKerala using rubberised bitumen would be inspected for this purpose. Courtesy: NCB & CW, ]an. 2002, P 66. E-mail: nbmcw@nda.vsnl.net.in Fax: 01-6822414 £-GOVERNANCE FOR KARNATAKA ROAD PROJECTS The Public Works Department in Karnataka has put in place an e-governance programme that will streamline the gamut of project design, financial management and contract management for speedier implementation of the projects. The PWD has developed a Geographical InformationSystem (GIS) based Road Information system to reduce the project planning and implementation time. Under a Road Policy, the Government undertake several steps to give priority to strengthen the State highways and major district roads to provide quality road links t.o the trade and business. In a departure from awarding projects to a number of small contractors, the State agency ofKarnatakaRoadDevelopment Corporation 59