New Delhi, June 1: The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is facilitating the industry to reduce the quantity of unutilized gypsum, used in cement making, and promote its seamless transportation, an official said.
The department has prepared a report with detailed comprehensive time bound action plans on achieving circular economy in gypsum, generated in fertilizer units and thermal power plants.
Circular economy in the context of gypsum means following practices that promote the sustainable use, reuse, and recycling of gypsum materials throughout their life cycle.
Phospho-gypsum generation from fertilizer units in India during 2021-22 is estimated to be 9.16 million tonne (MT).
Total legacy stockpile of phospho-gypsum stocked at various locations near phosphoric acid plants is estimated to be 70 MT. Out of this, 96.5 per cent is stored on the east coast of the country.
The Indian cement industry is the largest consumer of gypsum and its estimated requirement is about 19.5 MT. In agriculture, gypsum can be utilized as a fertilizer.
A stakeholder consultation meeting under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary in DPIIT Sanjiv was held on May 29 here to review the progress of achieving circular economy in gypsum.
“In the stakeholder consultation meeting, the joint secretary emphasized that focused implementation of proposed action plans is required, which would result in significantly reducing the quantity of unutilized gypsum,” the official said.
He further said a dashboard to monitor the circularity in gypsum will be launched soon.
“Government of India is committed to reducing dependency on imported gypsum by creating a win-win situation, both for indigenous generators and user industries, and the government is playing a role of facilitator particularly on logistics,” the official said adding DPIIT will take appropriate policy intervention to address the issues raised by generators and users.
In the meeting, an initiative of UltraTech Cement was appreciated. The company has transported 57,000 tonne of phospho-gypsum from IFFCO Paradeep and Paradeep Phosphate Ltd using inland waterways and coastal waterways to their cement plant in Gujarat.
The information was provided in the meeting by K C Jhanwar, MD, UltraTech Cement.
Director General of National Council for Cement and Building Materials S K Chaturvedi made a detailed presentation about the circular economy in gypsum in that meeting.
Chaturvedi also highlighted the potential threat which phospho-gypsum is posing to the environment due to the huge quantity of legacy stocks to the tune of 70 MT at the east coast.
IFFCO Paradeep Joint General Manager (Technical) P K Mahapatra suggested in the meeting about construction of a 700-metre railway line from Paradeep Port to the gypsum stack area of IFFCO as it would significantly help in reducing transportation cost and time.
The meeting was attended by representatives of gypsum generators like IFFCO Paradeep, NTPC; users like cement manufacturers and their association, gypsum boards manufacturers like Saint Gobain, Knauff India, representatives of research and academic institutes and government departments concerned.
Further, it was highlighted that use of phospo-gypsum as micro-fertiliser and for treatment of soil, containing high sodium, will be a game changer. (PTI)
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