Steel Ministry Committed To Net-zero Target By 2070: MoS Kulaste

The Ministry of Steel is committed to the net-zero target by 2070, said Union Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development Faggan Singh Kulaste in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Towards this, he said that in the short term (FY 2030), the reduction of carbon emissions in the steel industry through the promotion of energy and resource efficiency, renewable energy etc. is the focus. 

He added, "For the medium term (2030-2047), green hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage are the focus areas. For the long term (2047-2070), disruptive alternative technological innovations can help achieve the transition to net-zero."

The minister informed that two meetings of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, held in FY 2022, were dedicated to decarbonisation and improvement of resource efficiency in the steel sector.

While talking about the steps taken for promoting decarbonisation in the steel industry, he said that Steel Scrap Recycling Policy 2019 enhances the availability of domestically generated scrap to reduce the consumption of coal in steel making.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has announced the National Green Hydrogen Mission for green hydrogen production and usage. The steel sector has also been made a stakeholder in the Mission.

"The financial impact on the steel sector due to climate transition will be contingent on the actual measures taken to achieve the net-zero target by 2070," he said. 

Meanwhile, the emissions from the iron and steel sector reported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in India’s latest Biennial Update Reports (BURs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the year 2016 was 135.420 million tonnes CO2. 

Emissions from the iron and steel sector in 2030 will depend on the actual production of steel at that time, the minister said.