CHANGE – BUT AT A DIFFERENT PACE

Ash is big business in India, and India has a lot of ash. As many countries press ahead with the move away from coal-fired power generation, India is one country that has accepted that change must be at a sensible pace – meaning more ash for decades to come.

At last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, India was one of the countries that insisted on tweaking the wording of the conference’s final pledges, changing an ambition to ‘phase out’ coal power to ‘phase down’.

Rishit Dalal, a Director of JAYCEE, India’s market leading ash supplier, wasn’t surprised by this move.

He said: “The fact of the matter is India cannot phase out coal power, because right now 70% of our energy comes for coal-fired power plants.

“Even if you push wind, solar and renewables massively here – and in the next 10 years they have a target to go to around 500 gigawatts – coal would still remain about 50-55% of the total as per credible reports. And this proportion could be higher in absolute terms due to the growing energy demand of our country

“Coal is a huge element here – it’s the only way we can run the country, because we don’t have enough power available from other sources.

“In fact, India has committed to 2070 as the year that we will achieve net zero – so it’s still 50 years from now. I think the world can depend on India for ash for a long time yet!”

JAYCEE is already playing a major role in supplying the global market. As India’s market leader in processing, marketing and exports of high-quality coal combustion products, it serves more than 30 countries across five continents.

JAYCEE was established in 1986 by Jailesh C Dalal, taking its name from the initials of his first and middle names.

The firm was one of the first few distributors of Ambuja Cement (now part of Holcim), when they commissioned their first manufacturing plant in India. Then, with the advent of low carbon construction materials derived from industrial waste streams, specifically coal combustion products (Fly Ash) and blast furnace slag, JAYCEE discovered its true north.

Rishit started his career as a management consultant with KPMG, and joined JAYCEE in 2010. Since then, JAYCEE has grown to become a major global player, with long-term partnerships with coal-fired thermal power plants, and investments in world-class processing, packing and supply chain infrastructure with industry-leading capacities.

He sees a future for the company that cements its current position, while investing in infrastructure to enable growth.

He said: “JAYCEE has built a reputation of quality, reliability and service, backed by strong capability in the ash industry. We have the biggest fly ash processing plant in South Asia and are the pioneers in exporting dry bulk fly ash from India.

“We are also the only player in India with CE marking (and REACH) on Fly Ash. This puts us in a very strong position as a reliable ash supply partner for large international markets.

“We will be doubling down on our strengths, and significantly scaling up our bulk exports by investing in export terminals, while also serving the needs of the domestic market with efficient ash supply through railways. 

“We are also bullish on Ultrafine Fly Ash for high performance concrete applications, which we produce at our processing plant. In parallel, we are also doing R&D to develop geopolymer concrete and value-added products.”

It’s not only India’s reliance on coal-fired energy that positions the country as a major player in future ash exports, it’s also the kind of coal being used at its power plants.

Rishit explained: “India produced 226 million tons of Fly Ash in 2019-2020, with a utilisation rate of 83%.

“With the spike in coal prices, and a government directive of reducing coal imports, power plants have started using domestic coal which has very high ash content of 35-40%, compared to 5-15% for imported coal.

“This has led to what I call the “domestic coal effect” on the ash industry with increased generation of ash.

“India also has several port-based power plants, which enable cost effective exports in various modes.

“All of this means India will have fresh ash generation for the next 20 years at the least and will play a critical role in filling the global need-gap for fly ash. With export terminals being set-up, India will be able to export millions of tons of fly ash into international markets.”

However, Rishit believes a more coherent government strategy on ash could help overcome the challenges the market faces in India, not least those caused by the sheer size of the country and a lack of infrastructure.

“The biggest challenge facing the ash market in India is an imbalance in supply and demand due to long distance between power plants and consumers, which has led to many regions with high demand being under-served, and regions with high supply being under-utilised,” he said.

“Seasonality combined with lack of bulk storage has led to under-utilisation and dumping in low season, and under-supply in high season. With efficient logistics, bulk storage and ash terminals, ash utilisation can improve significantly.

“The Indian ash industry is also highly unorganised and fragmented, which has led to few large ash-based industries and value-added product manufacturing. 

“I think a focused strategy by the government and power plants can stimulate ash-based industries, create employment, value and enhance beneficial utilisation.”

So, given these challenges, is there a need to reassure global markets that India has a stable ash supply chain, with the regulatory structures and trade environment needed for international trade?

“There are no restrictions on ash trading and exports in India,” Rishit said, “There are several port-based power plants and export infrastructure is being developed to enable efficient exports. Therefore, India can definitely provide a stable ash supply chain for global markets.”

Right now, JAYCEE exports to dozens of countries. While the firm sees South Asia and Middle East a stable and organically growing market, they believe Australia, Europe and America are poised for major growth.

A pragmatic approach to serving different markets has helped secure this global success.

Rishit said: “Most countries allow free imports of ash, and we have not encountered any regulatory challenges as such, except for certifications and documentation.

“Europe mandates CE Marking + REACH, and some countries only allow processed ash as a product and not raw ash which is considered as waste material.

“Also, dry bulk vessels can be used for shipping ash, along with break bulk and containers. There are some hygiene regulations such as fumigation requirements, but nothing too difficult.”

Despite the assured future of coal-fired power in India, JAYCEE is still playing its part in the push for decarbonisation of the construction materials industry, particularly though investment in new technology.

“JAYCEE is working on some interesting initiatives and value-added products such as geopolymer concrete which will help increase ash utilisation in the building and construction industry, and help bring down the carbon footprint of construction,” he said.

However, supplying high-quality, sourced from the buoyant Indian energy sector, is the central mission of JAYCEE.  Coal-fired energy still has a future in India, and the ash it creates will provide a valuable resource for export over the coming decades.