India to launch national green steel mission by December

The Indian government plans to launch a national green steel mission by December this year, Mint reports.

The definition of such products is expected in October to stimulate sustainable production. The initiative is modeled after the National Green Hydrogen Mission, said Sandeep Poundrick, secretary of the Ministry of Steel.

The move comes amid growing pressure on countries to reduce carbon emissions in manufacturing, including the introduction of the European CBAM.

A key aspect of the mission will focus on increasing the share of green steel in public procurement.

According to Poundrick, currently about 10-20% of steel purchased by government agencies can be classified as green. But this share may increase in the coming years as production of such steel products grows.

To support this change, the government may consider reallocating unused funds from the previous production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for specialty steel. We are talking about an amount of 30 billion Indian rupees ($356.8 million). Part of the funds may be redirected to stimulate the production of green steel, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals.

As India’s steel consumption continues to increase sharply due to rapid economic growth, the government is also reviewing its national steel policy from 2017 and the scrap policy introduced in 2019.

As GMK Center reported earlier, India’s steel industry will require an investment of approximately $283 billion to decarbonize existing plants. This is stated in a report by the country’s Ministry of Steel. The plans should focus on increasing the integration of renewable energy sources in the steel sector. In addition, the country may reduce taxes on green steel production to encourage its adoption, along with requiring luxury car manufacturers to use more environmentally friendly raw materials.