India plans to allocate $529 million to reduce emissions in the steel industry

India’s Ministry of Steel is finalising a large-scale financial support package worth $529 million. The programme is aimed at introducing technologies to reduce carbon emissions in the steel sector. According to government sources, the initiative is expected to be officially unveiled within the next three months. This was reported by SteelOrbis.

The fiscal package, dubbed the ‘National Strategy for the Sustainable Development of the Secondary Steel Industry’, will shortly be submitted to the Indian Cabinet for consideration and final approval before its practical implementation begins.

The new government initiative will cover all steel producers in the country, although the lion’s share of funding is earmarked specifically for secondary metallurgy enterprises. The main objective of the project is to encourage businesses, through a system of financial and tax incentives, to switch to environmentally friendly technologies and use alternative raw materials in the production process. This is expected to significantly reduce the industry’s overall carbon footprint.

Currently, the steel sector is one of the largest sources of environmental pollution in India, accounting for between 10% and 12% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

According to official data, the emission intensity of the Indian steel industry currently stands at 2.55 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of crude steel. This figure significantly exceeds the global average, which stands at around 1.9 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of steel produced.

As reported by GMK Center, in March the Indian government approved three pilot hydrogen projects in steel production as part of its national ‘green’ hydrogen mission. Approximately $41 million will be provided to support these projects. The projects are expected to be completed within the next three years.