ENERGY-CONSERVATION IN THE WHITEWARE INDUSTRY - THE INDIAN SCENARIO

There is a continuous hike in the price of all types of fuels for the last two decades and this has caused a tremendous pressure on the cera mic industry in India in general and the whiteware industry in particu lar. The price rise is simply alarming and in order to meet: the situa tion the manufacturers have been compelled to raise the price structur e of the products by about 50-80%. Because of this rise, competitive p roducts of plastic, enamel etc. with comparatively less energy input a re threatening the demand potential of some ceramic products in which fuel contributes the highest cost factor (35-40% of the total cost). A n attempt has been made in the paper to discuss the various sources of energy losses and suggestions have been put forward to reduce the fue l consumption in the ceramic unit. A small reduction in the fuel bill will reduce the cost of production and thereby increasing the profitab ility substantially.