Vedanta’s steel business on path to green transition

Vedanta Sesa Goa Iron Ore Business has said it is working on a solution to use hydrogen instead of coke in its manufacturing process. It is doing so as to reduce carbon emissions as part of its plan to shift towards “green steel”.

Vedanta said it is looking for a tie-up with IIT-Bombay to carry out research for manufacturing pig iron ore using hydrogen in place of coke. The solution is aimed at reducing carbon emission in the production process and will help manufacture green steel.

The statement assumes significance in the wake of Vedanta earlier committing to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and pledging $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations.

The environmental impact of steel is enormous given its production process is one of the most energy-consuming and CO2-emitting industrial activities in the world. Steel production process involves conversion of iron ore into pig iron (by casting and solidifying molten iron).

The company said that it follows the triple bottom line of ‘people, planet and prosperity’ to create a sustainable future in a ‘zero harm, zero waste and zero discharge’ environment for the communities.