Calix and Adani’s Ambuja Cements Partner on Low-Carbon Cement Project in India

Ambuja Cements and Leilac Join Forces for Carbon Capture Retrofit

Calix Limited’s subsidiary Leilac Limited has entered a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with Ambuja Cements, part of the Adani Group, to deploy Leilac’s carbon capture and hybrid calcination technology at the Sanghi cement plant in Gujarat, India. The collaboration aims to demonstrate a commercial-scale retrofit that reduces emissions and fuel consumption while increasing renewable electricity use in cement production.

The Sanghi plant, with a clinker capacity of 6.6 million tonnes per year, will host an initial commercial demonstration module. This phase is designed to validate the technology’s ability to lower energy costs and process emissions through hybrid electric heating, which Leilac says improves the economics of carbon capture and utilisation.

Capital-Light Model and Milestones

Notably, Calix and Leilac are not required to contribute any capital during the development, construction, commissioning, or operation phases of the project. Instead, the model is customer-funded, with Ambuja Cements bearing project costs post a successful go/no-go decision, which is targeted for 2027 with a backstop of June 2028.

Leilac and Ambuja will jointly conduct an engineering study to support this decision, with each party responsible for its own internal costs up to that point. The agreement also includes plans to negotiate a non-exclusive technology license before proceeding to construction, allowing Calix to retain its intellectual property rights.

Potential Scale and Industry Impact

Subject to successful demonstration, the project could expand to capture more than 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, a significant volume for the cement sector where process emissions are notoriously difficult to abate. Ambuja Cements, with an annual production capacity of around 109 million tonnes, is the ninth-largest cement producer globally and a major player in India’s infrastructure development.

Leilac’s CEO Daniel Rennie highlighted the opportunity to deliver a replicable, economic solution for the global cement industry, leveraging Ambuja’s advanced manufacturing network. Meanwhile, Karan Adani of Ambuja Cements emphasised the importance of innovation and collaboration to achieve a lower-carbon future for cement production.

Strategic Fit with Calix’s Industrial Decarbonisation Ambitions

This project marks Leilac’s first cement partnership that fully aligns with its capital-light, customer-funded commercial deployment strategy, which aims to generate royalty revenues under technology licences without upfront investment. It complements Calix’s broader efforts in industrial decarbonisation, including recent milestones in lithium processing and green iron projects.

Given the scale of cement emissions globally and the challenges in decarbonising the sector, this collaboration could serve as a blueprint for future deployments, provided the demonstration phase meets its technical and commercial targets.