Pakistan: Kohat Cement has expanded its renewable energy capacity with the successful installation of an additional 2.32MW on-grid solar power system at its plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The company announced the development in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange on 1 January 2026. With this latest addition, the total installed solar power capacity at the site has reached 17.66MW.
Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Cement has signed an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract with a value of around US$23m with China-based Chengdu Design and Research Institute. The agreement covers the construction of an electrical grid station to complete the electricity supply project for Riyadh Cement’s Nisah plant. The deal falls under the Liquid Fuel Displacement program. The project is intended to boost energy efficiency, cut emissions, and improve operational reliability.
US: An updated version of the Clean Competition Act (CCA) has been reintroduced to the 119th US Congress in December 2025. The legislation proposes levying a tax of US$60/t of CO2 equivalent emissions associated with selected carbon-intensive goods, according to the American Action Forum (AAF). This would then be increased by 6% each year along with a carbon border adjustment of import taxes and export rebates. It would cover goods including cement, oil, gas, coal, refining, petrochemicals, fertilisers, hydrogen, adipic acid, iron and steel, aluminium, glass, pulp and paper and ethanol. The CCA is not expected to become law in the short-term. However, the AAF reckons that it provides a, “a meaningful framework for a US legislative approach to encouraging decarbonization in the US and abroad.”
India: Shree Cement has announced plans to invest US$223m in a new 2Mt/yr cement plant in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, as part of its three-year strategy to boost overall cement capacity from 68Mt/yr to 80Mt/yr. Chair Hari Bangur said the proposed plant will be located in Kondala, Chandrapur district. A letter of intent was signed in the presence of Maharashtra’s Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis.
“Land is almost taken, terms of reference have come, now environmental clearance is awaited. After environmental clearance, it is a matter of two years before the whole plant is there,” said Bangur.
The company already operates a grinding unit in Pune. While Shree Cement has not disclosed other specific locations for future plants, Bangur said land acquisition is underway and ‘plans are in place.’ After achieving 80Mt/yr capacity by 2028, the company reportedly aims to expand further to 100Mt/yr. The new plant will be funded entirely through internal accruals. Bangur stated that Shree Cement has over US$557m in cash reserves and will not require external borrowing for the project.
