India: Industries Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and IT Minister K T Rama Rao have held consultations with cement manufacturers in Hyderabad to discuss the supply of cement for white topping roads and other civil works.
White topping is considered a cost-effective and sustainable construction method. The advantage of white topping technology is the reduced thickness, reduced / zero maintenance, and long life of 25 - 30 years without maintenance. It has not been used previously due to the non-availability of cement and mechanised equipment. Using this technology, one inch of the existing road is scraped off, concrete with fibre is laid, sprayed with powder, curing and groove cutting is done to avoid cracks and expansions.
The plan is to lay 400 - 500km road in Hyderabad in two months. The meeting was called to negotiate on the cement prices. The Ministers requested the producers to re-consider and give a lower quote, keeping in view the high amount of work that is being taken up for roads, as well as construction of houses.
The IT Minister also stated that they intended to take this technology to districts and villages and in future would convert all roads from BT to CC Road with white-topping technology.