Decoupling of carbon emissions from output of Indian cement manufacturing sector
Student name: Ms Swati Pillai
Guide: Dr Atul Kumar
Year of completion: 2012
Host Organisation: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Abstract: The Indian cement industry now is a far cry from the fledgling and shrivelled industry
plagued by bad government policies. It has risen to become the largest producer of cement in
the world, second only to China and at its current rate of growth the Indian cement industry is
expected to surpass China in the next 25 years. During this journey of its growth, the Indian
cement industry has taken commendable steps towards energy efficiency and adoption of
state of art technology. What remains to be seen is whether these proactive steps are getting
reflected as reduced carbon emissions by the sector. I start by analysing the trend in the
immediate factors that affect the levels of CO2 emissions in the cement industry- thermal
efficiency, clinker produced to cement produced ratio and the fuel mix in the sector. The
results are then substantiated using a regression analysis which sheds light on whether
decoupling is happening in the sector and if yes, then is it absolute decoupling or relative
decoupling.
