Cement production is not water-intensive. On average, Indian plants use half a tonne of water to produce a tonne of cement. This is low compared to the pulp and paper industry, which consumes 200-250 tonnes of water to produce a tonne of paper.

But the big absolute numbers translate into big sums. Annually the cement industry consumes 37 million tonnes of water. The ecological impact of this consumption is made worse by the fact that 50 per cent is sourced from groundwater, almost 18 million tonnes annually, mostly in water-deficient areas. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the industry to look at sustainable sources of water