SteelMin considering mandating production toward green steel

The Ministry of Steel, Government of India, is contemplating mandating steel producers to dedicate a percentage of their production toward green steel. This was informed by Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Steel, during a virtual address from New Delhi to SteelMint’s flagship conference in Kolkata.

Addressing the gathering at the ‘3rd Coal Outlook Conference’, ‘the 6th Indian Iron Ore & Pellet Summit and ‘the 5th DRI & Steel Conference, held over 24-26 August, Scindia reminded that India has progressed immensely from being a net importer of steel prior to 2014 to becoming a net exporter of steel on this day and “we now strive to not only grow further but to climb up from the position of second largest position of crude steel to the largest producer in the world”.

To achieve that, he said India needs to be constantly focused towards building a technologically advanced and globally competitive steel industry that not only promotes economic growth but is also self-sufficient in ala aspects, be it with regard to the availability of raw materials, manufacturing capacity and even environmental sustainability.

The minister charted a course for the steel industry for the next 7-8 years.

The second challenge and which is across sectors is carbon emissions, he observed, adding that a steel scrap recycling policy has been put in place to enhance availability of domestically generated scrap.

He said the government has also formed 13 task forces to identify points for each aspect of green steel production. The adoption of sustainable technologies, game-changing initiatives such as the green hydrogen mission are also very much on the anvil, he informed.

Scindia remarked that the discussions taking place at the conference will help in identifying key milestones that India needs to achieve over the next decades and assured regulatory support that the industry would require in the days to come.