Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

Vol6, No. 3 July- Sept 2002 CEMENT, ENERGY and ENVIRONMENT Editorial Board A. V. 5rinivisan 5. J. Raina Dr. 5. P. Ghosh G. Ramaseshan P. T. Nanjappa P. K. Bhatnagar Executive Advisory Board M. L. Narula - Chairman V.J. Anantharaman K. M . Kavadia J.P. Desai P.K. Goenka A.K. Jain Kama l Kumar Dr. K.C. Narang B.V. Ramanayya Dr. 5.N. Yadav ....., .. - ,.. '·iTS . r v.,.,~ .' ...- -- ''"-41)' ' . ..... -~ Vignettes ofenl'ironment:friendly mining. con l'eying and stacking cru shed limestone at Birla and Chillor Cement Works (C/ock-1vise f rom Top left) l11clined-wet d rilling, Hydraulic rock breaking, Dust:free limestone transport hy col'ered conveyor and Water-sprayed stacking of limestone. (see pages 9-/2for detailed article). For Private Circulation MESSAGE Dear Readers, In this issue, we shall briefly survey notable recent developments in the areas of our industry, the country and on the global level. The foremost among them, of course, is the notification by the Ministry of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs mentioning that imposition of mandatory certification should not be necessary as quality of cement can be better improved with Voluntary Certification. We have some feedback f rom our Members on the issue- withdrawal of cement from the purview of the Essential Commodities Act and compulsory certification. The majority opinion from the industry is in favour of the withdrawal of compulsory ce11ification for two weighty reasons : Firstly, in a highly competitive and buyers' market, all companies take due care for assming quality of their product to maintain their market share and brand unage. Indeed quality is the industry's sole survival kit in a flagging commodity market to protect its bottomline. So much so, no company today can afford to be slack on the quality assurance front Secondly, any compulsory cet1if ication is regulatory in nature and has its pitfalls, like breeding irregularities and coiTuption. In this context, it will be a welcome change to usher a Voluntary Certification regime. In which case, BIS's ro le will be one of a consumer oriemed service organisation. Incidentally, the world renowned and uni versally accepted standards for cement like British Standards (BS) and American Stanaards (ASTM) are purely voluntary. These standards are accepted as password where no othe r standards are in vogue. Non-compliance with their provisions entails heavy penalty for mis use of the logo. A similar practice can be adopted by Indian cement industry too, which is world's second largest in capacity and production, and in vying with other competitors, is gradually widening its export market.