India has announced that it will develop a "green steel policy framework" and consider including green steel products in the scope of government public procurement. India's Steel Minister Sandeep Pondrick said the country's steel ministry will also explore incentives for small steel mills to produce low-carbon steel.
India's steel sector accounts for 12% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions. In order to provide some incentives to users who purchase a large number of "green steel", promote the growth of local low-carbon emission steel demand, and provide support for the sustainable operation of local steel mills, the Indian Steel Ministry plans to launch the "Green Steel Mission" to promote the development of "green steel" in the country. To this end, the Indian Steel Ministry has set up 13 task forces whose tasks include defining the concept of "green steel", developing benchmarks, certification and monitoring rules for measuring carbon emissions from steel mills, and developing policy frameworks to create demand for "green steel" at key application ends. In addition, these working groups will promote supply-side energy efficiency and explore innovative financing mechanisms and new technology development cooperation opportunities.
At present, the working group has compiled the findings of the current stage of the study into a comprehensive report - "Greening the Indian Steel Industry Roadmap and Action Plan". The report provides a detailed analysis of the current state of the Indian steel industry and concrete steps towards a green transition, covering key areas such as technological innovation, policy development and financial mechanisms to support the green transition. The report contains three key sections on demand-side policy: developing a green steel taxonomy, monitoring CO2 emissions, and creating market incentives; In terms of supply-side policies, seven key elements are included: energy efficiency, renewable energy, material efficiency, technological transformation, and green hydrogen.
India aims to be carbon neutral by 2070, and as one of the main sources of carbon emissions, the steel industry's efforts to reduce emissions are crucial to achieving this goal. The Indian steel industry's carbon emissions per ton of steel have been reduced from about 3.1 tons in 2005 to about 2.6 tons in 2020, and India has set a target of reducing total carbon emissions by 30-35 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.
