A study on the assessment of the environmental footprint of cement production in India: potential challenges towards achieving UN- SDGs

Abstract

Purpose Cement production is key driver of India's infrastructure development while exerting substantial pressure on several environment-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, its energy and carbon-intensive production practices pose serious environmental challenges. This study presents a comprehensive and region-specific quantification of the environmental footprint of cement production in India, identifies critical regional hotspots, and develops robust, decision-oriented sustainability indicators by monetizing environmental impacts and explicitly aligning them with relevant SDG targets. Design/methodology/approach An India-wide, regionally disaggregated cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) framework is applied by linking publicly available state-wise cement production statistics with region-specific characterization factors to quantify environmental impacts across six categories. These impacts are then converted into environmental costs (US$) through monetary valuation and mapped to SDG targets to derive alignment indices. Findings Indian cement production consumes 9.32E+05 million MJ of energy and emits 188.24 million tons of CO2-eq annually, resulting in a GHGs-related environmental cost of 2296.58 million US$/year. The southern and western regions together account for ∼70% of this cost. Among cement types, Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) together contribute about 93% of energy use and GHG emissions. Research limitations/implications The analysis is limited by secondary, regionally aggregated data, assumed cement-type shares and limited India-specific characterization and cost factors; future work should use more plant-level datasets and additional impact pathways to refine regional benchmarks and SDG-linked decision tools. Practical implications The findings support policy-driven sustainability strategies, leading to reduced emissions, improved air quality, and healthier urban environments. Originality/value This study provides the first India-wide, regionally disaggregated, multi-impact and monetary assessment of OPC and blended cements, and is among the first to integrate SDG alignment metrics into an LCA-based evaluation framework for the cement sector.