Use of blended cement with industrial by-products as supplementary cementitious materials is a sustainable alternative to carbon-intensive conventional cements. Although the potential of several new alternative cementitious materials has been reported in the literature, their industrial acceptance is minimal compared to fly ash and slag. In addition to performance evaluation in concrete, it is essential to compare the performance of new alternative cementitious materials with other widely recognised materials in industries to facilitate their acceptance. Therefore, the present study focuses on a thorough review of the characteristics and performance of bagasse ash in concrete compared to fly ash and slag blended concrete. Moreover, fresh, hardened and durability characteristics of bagasse ash blended concrete are critically reviewed. Based on a comprehensive review, the optimum replacement levels for bagasse ash, fly ash and slag are found to be 20%, 30% and 50% respectively. Even though adverse effects such as delayed initial set, workability reduction and increased consistency were observed for bagasse ash blended cements, the strength gain of bagasse ash blended concrete is found to be better than fly ash/slag blended concrete. Significant enhancement in resistance against chloride and water permeability is also reported for bagasse ash blended concrete compared to fly ash and slag blended concrete. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd