Mumbai: Union Steel Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday hinted that the government may make it mandatory for steelmakers to devote a part of their capacity to green steel manufacturing in the future. "In the near future, the government of the day may contemplate looking at putting in place processes for steel producers of the nation to dedicate a percentage of their production to making green steel," Scindia said in a video message at the India Steel 2023 event. The government may also look at ways to ensure greater usage of the green steel in government projects as well, he added.
Scindia said that the private sector steel users in India are actually moving towards committing to more and more green steel in their projects and also noted that some manufacturers have already launched branded green steel products.
The minister said that breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovations like hydrogen-based steelmaking coupled with carbon capture, utilisation, and store (CCUS) hold huge promise for the future. He said that India has emerged as the epicentre for the evolution and growth of the steel sector globally and has been able to achieve landmarks like production touching 125 million tonnes and consumption growing over 11 percent in the last nine years.
"The steel ministry is in the process of aligning its policy with the Gati Shakti Masterplan of the government, under which investments of Rs 100 lakh crore are envisaged to improve infrastructure," Scindia said. Steel secretary Nagendra Nath Sinha said that there is a need to increase the spending on research and development by the industry, and also for diversifying in various items of steelmaking and grades of steelmaking.
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