India's cement industry could replace more coal with waste fuel, but adoption hurdles remain

India’s cement industry can replace more coal with waste-derived fuel, but infrastructure and pricing hurdles remain. At the Mint Sustainability Summit 2026, GGEPIL CEO Fahim Sopariwala said, "A typical cement plant uses about 1,000 tonnes of coal or petcoke every day." Currently, India’s thermal substitution rate stays below 5 percent.