Former Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited Y. Siva Sagar Rao on Wednesday predicted a bright future for ceramic industry with its growing demand and focus on growth of infrastructure and automobile industries.
He was speaking as the chief guest at a regional workshop on improving castable refractories with calcium aluminate cements organised by Visakhapatnam chapter of Indian Ceramic Society (ICS) and Kerneous India at Gajuwaka.
Mr. Rao said castable refractories being vital component for steel, pharma, cement and processing industries, the entrepreneurs involved in its manufacturing should make use of available technologies for cost reduction. Castable refractories from its inception had slowly increased its share in refractory applications due to its advantages over bricks. Though castables had penetrated into many applications, still there was huge potential for further conversion of brick to castable, he noted. He said the production, which is estimated at 30 million tonne was undergoing an increase at the rate of eight to 10 per cent with 75 per cent use in the steel industry, 12 per cent in cement, five to six per cent in non-ferroys, three per cent in glass and the remaining in other sectors. The manufacturing sector was expected to grow from eight to 11 to 12 per cent in next few years.
Kerneos India Managing Director Segi P Idicula welcomed the fresh initiative by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to give an impetus to manufacturing sector.
