India’s steel production is surging, but its heavy reliance on coal-fired plants raises significant environmental concerns. As the country targets net-zero emissions by 2070, the growth of its steel sector presents a conflict with national decarbonization goals, says Economic times.
The government’s National Steel Policy focuses on building emissions-intensive coal-fired blast furnaces with plans to decarbonize them later rather than transitioning directly to green steel production, according to the report.
” The plan doesn’t consider stepping away from the fossil fuel, Henna Khadeeja, a GEM researcher and lead author of the report, said in an interview. “All this coal locked-in only pushes India’s net zero target further away” because retroactively removing carbon from the supply chain via other technologies will be “very difficult,” she said.
India, as the world’s third-largest emitter, plays a critical role in global decarbonization efforts, particularly given its rapidly growing population and economy. The pace at which the country can transition to low-carbon pathways will significantly influence the global fight against climate change.
The steel sector accounted for 12% of the country’s emissions in 2022, and a building and infrastructure boom looks set to keep pushing that higher.