Pakistan/UK: The Digital Eye system is now tracking production at all 27 cement plants in Pakistan, helping the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to strengthen tax compliance and improve revenue collection for public services. The system, first piloted in 2023, uses advanced video analytics to monitor production lines in real time, providing plants and the FBR with an independent record of production. Working alongside FBR’s existing Track and Trace System, which records products leaving the production line, it gives tax authorities greater visibility of output while reducing reliance on manual inspection and paperwork. Digital Eye was developed by a Pakistani technology company, and the solution was tested, refined and rolled out nationwide with UK technical support.

British High Commissioner Jane Marriott visited Fecto Cement alongside senior FBR officials to see the technology in operation, touring the production line, observing the monitoring system and attending a briefing on how the technology is supporting tax administration reforms. Marriott said “Digital Eye is a strong example of the UK and Pakistan working together to deliver practical change. Built in Pakistan and now operated nationwide by the FBR, it shows how innovation can be scaled to strengthen tax compliance, support fair competition and improve transparency. The UK is proud to have supported that journey through technical expertise, whilst helping build the institutional capability needed to sustain it.”

Najeeb Ullah, Chief of Reforms and Modernisation at the FBR, said “The results speak for themselves. Real-time production monitoring has already strengthened compliance in cement, and it has done so without adding to the burden on compliant taxpayers. Our focus now is on consolidating what we have built, improving accuracy, deepening the skills of our own teams, and extending the system to further sectors. Accurate production data protects the businesses that declare honestly and we are grateful to the UK for its technical support through REMIT, and we intend to take this approach into further sectors.”

India: The government has approved allotment of 101 hectares to Dalmia Cement (Bharat) for expanding its integrated cement plant at Chinnakommerla, raising the proposed cement capacity to 9.60Mt/yr. The government amended its earlier approval issued in March 2025, raising the proposed capacity from 7.23Mt/yr to 9.60Mt/yr. The revised implementation schedule envisages construction from July 2026 to December 2027, machinery erection between November 2026 and November 2027, and trial production during November to December 2027. Commercial production is targeted from January 2028.

India: UltraTech Cement’s integrated cement manufacturing plant at Kukurdih, Chhattisgarh, has met 100% of its electricity requirement through ‘green’ energy every month since April 2026. The 3.3Mt/yr Kukurdih plant reached this milestone through a combination of renewable power sourcing and waste heat recovery. Since April 2026, nearly a third of UltraTech's 76 cement plants in India have maintained a thermal energy substitution rate above 50% of their electricity requirement. Five of these, including the Kukurdih plant, have exceeded 95%. UltraTech is also progressively deploying battery energy storage systems across its network. As of September 2026, the company's captive non-fossil-fuel energy capacity stood at 1897MW, comprising 1463MW of renewable capacity (solar, wind and hybrid) and 434MW of waste heat recovery capacity.

Uzbekistan: Representatives of the Agency for Waste Management and Development of Circular Economy (FAO) and Uzbekistan’s cement industry discussed prospects for using cement kilns to treat certain categories of hazardous waste at a meeting in Tashkent on 23 September 2026. Uzbekistan’s existing capacity for neutralising and permanently disposing of hazardous waste is reportedly limited. However, participants were presented with Azerbaijan’s experience as an example. With FAO support, controlled trials were conducted there to use cement kilns to treat pesticide waste.

A potential pilot project in Uzbekistan would require preliminary work on regulatory requirements, permitting procedures, the availability of necessary infrastructure and sources of financing. In addition, individual cement plants could undergo technical assessments to determine whether they are suitable for participation.

“This roundtable is a first step towards assessing the possibilities, identifying interested cement plants and establishing the technical, regulatory and environmental requirements that would need to be met before any pilot operation could be considered,” said Arthur Shamilov, FAO agriculture specialist and lead technical officer of the project.

A specific list of plants for a potential pilot has not yet been determined. It is also not yet known which types of waste could be treated or in what quantities. Environmental monitoring of such operations remains a separate issue.