Roadmap for decarbonisation of steel will be put for public consultation

India’s steel sector accounts for about 12% of total greenhouse gas emissions, with an emission intensity of 2.55 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel compared to a global average of 1.9 tonne

The ministry of steel has prepared a roadmap on decarbonisation of steel, which will be put up for public consultation shortly, steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha said.

The task forces were set up to study the instruments or mechanisms to advance decarbonisation of steel. Sinha said the reports submitted by the task forces have been integrated into a roadmap on which inter-ministerial consultation had been completed.

India’s steel sector accounts for about 12 per cent of total greenhouse gas emissions, with an emission intensity of 2.55 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel compared to a global average of 1.9 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel.

In line with the country’s targets, the ministry of steel constituted 13 task forces in March 2023 for driving decarbonisation. In December 2023, a 14th task force was constituted.

Pointing to the Budget speech, Sinha said that Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman emphasised the importance of energy transition.

On the roadmap, the steel secretary pointed out that the steel sector had moved “quite ahead.”

On coal-based sponge iron units, he said that carbon pricing would come into effect and may make them uneconomical.

In January 2023, the Union Cabinet had approved the National Hydrogen Mission with a total allocation of Rs 19,744 crore for producing 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.

Steelmakers have been flagging the rise of low-cost imports into the country. Asked about this, Sinha said that at the moment about 5 per cent of total consumption was being met by imports, which was not dangerous.

However, he pointed out that several steelmakers had claimed that the prices quoted for imported products were significantly lower than the offer price of steelmakers. Some of the steelmakers, he said, had put up their concerns with the Directorate General of Trade Remedies.

The steel ministry has also brought up the concern with the ministry of finance.

The ministry of steel is in favour of a second round of the production-linked incentive scheme (PLI). But it’s on the table.

He noted that under the PLI scheme for speciality steel, 57 MoUs had been executed, entailing an investment of Rs 29,500 crore. There were 25 categories, and applications had been received in 19 categories.

The PLI scheme would lead to an additional capacity of 25 million tonnes for producing speciality steel grades.