Cement, Energy and Environment July-Sep 2002

help construct homes and all that the government needs to do is to help with enabling legislation in making the required extent of land avai lable. Cement and concrete can contribute significant ly in facilitatin g construction of low-cost housing and the industry can offer high quality cement at the cheapest rates in world", sa id A.K. Ja in , spokesperson of CMA. According to Jain , the cement industry has adequate but unutilised capacity to help meet any upsurge in demand. Avai lability of adequate cement at economica l rates is therefore not a constraint and the housing sector can consume, roughly over 50 million tonnes of cement to help clear the backlog of dwelling units. ·· It is c lear that any impetus in hous ing activity will serve as a powerful driver to boost the growth or the Indi an cement industry and in addition, construction activi ty in itself is highly employment-oriented and thus, it wil l have a multipl ier effect", believes Jain. ··we have already observed in rece nt times that because of th e reduced inte rest rates, consumption of cement is on the upswing and it can rise more, if the housing loan condition s can be made more nexible'', said an offi cial of a large cement manufac turer based in Gujarat. A CMA report says that besides individua l housing, space absorpti on by corporales is a lso likely to grow by 50 percent, during the next few months. In Bangalore, it is li kely to touch 750,000 square feet, in Gurgaon it is likely to touch 300.000 square feet and in Mumbai, it may expand up to 400,000 sq uare feet. ..So we hope to grow more with all the se development in both th e domestic and corporate sectors", said the offi cial. But he added that demand is still constrained due to inadequate access to finance. Courtesy: Cement News Digest, 20-26 Ju/02, P4 Fax: 022-2040582 Email: cmabb@bom3. vsnl. net. in Web: www.cmaindia.org CEMENT SlJSTAINABlLITY INITIATIVE Not one to be left behind, the cement industry too has launched a similar image bui lding campaign. The c~~ment Sustai nability Initiative (CS I) started by the worl d's I0 largest cement manufacturers has now released a report (mentioned in Cement, Energy and Environment, Oct-Dec 200 I ,P 44) on their industry's efforts in the field of sustainable development. The agenda of the CSI, which functions in tandem with the World Business Council for Sustai nable Development (WBCSD) includes a thre e-yea r programme on six priority issues: c limate protection , fuels and raw materials, employee health and safety, emiss ion reduction, local impacts and internal business processes. Howeve r, th e indus try acknowledges that it wi ll not be easy to implement the recommendations of this report. They point out that the barriers include a lack of trust among stakeholders, who make inve stm ent in sustainable development proj ect~ on ly if the) are linked to profit. Cour/esy: Downlo £nrth, , lug 31, 02, P-13. Fax: 91-11-6085879 Email: cse@cseindta.org Web: www.cseindia.org BANGALORE-MYSORE ROAD PRO.JECTTOTAKE OFF SOON Work on the Bangalore- Mysore expressway, being executed by the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (N ICE), expected to begin in a month. Talking to reporters after a high level meeting wi th Karnataka ch ief secretary A Ravindra, pri ncipal finance sec retary and commissioner Chi ranjeevi Singh. Karnat aka Indust rial Area Developme nt Boa rd managin g director Harish Gowda and chief minister's principal secretary SY Ran ganath, NICE MD, Ashok Kheny sa id the last hurdles in commencing work had been cleared with the government agreeing to issue the necessary 'comfort letter' sought by the fi nancial institutions. ''We expect the consortium of financial institutions led by ICICI to release funds to the Rs.2,000 crore project upon receipt of the comfort lette r allay ing their rese rva tions over vari ous aspects to faci Iitate early financial closure'', he said and added the work wo uld beg in simultaneously from both ends. Mr. Kheny said the first phase of the I I 1-km expressway project, wh ich is expec ted to reduce the present three-hour travel time from the two c iti es to one hour 15 minutes when completed, is targeted to be completed in 18 months. He said NICE was a ll set to take up work even during monsoon when earthwork and construction of bridges and underpasses could be handled. Courtesy: Indian Ceme/11 RevieH', l ui 02, lj 31. Tel: 022-2076918: Fax: 022- 2072 I 02 \VORLD'S BIGGEST CEMENT PRODUCTION LINE'! World News 1\nhui Conch has just signed contracts wi th Polysius Germany for a IO,OOOtpd clinker line to be built at its Chi zhou faci li ty on the Yangtze Ri ver south of Wuhu City in Anhui Province. This new line is sc.heduled to be completed by end-2003.