Tata Steel has commissioned India’s first coke oven gas (COG) injection project at its Meramandali steel plant in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district. The initiative is intended to reduce fossil-fuel consumption and carbon emissions from conventional blast-furnace ironmaking while improving the use of gases generated within the integrated steel plant.

COG is a hydrogen- and hydrocarbon-rich byproduct of coke production. It contains more than 55 per cent hydrogen and methane and is typically used for power generation, heating or flaring. Under the new project, the gas is cleaned to remove harmful tar and sulphur before being piped into the blast furnace through small nozzles known as tuyeres.

The project was implemented with technology partner Paul Wurth-SMS and equipment supplier Kobelco. By injecting COG into the furnace, Tata Steel is using hydrogen in the gas as a chemical reducer, partially replacing carbon-based inputs and lowering the quantity of metallurgical coke or coal required to produce iron.

The company said the system could provide a three-fuel operating model for the blast furnace, combining conventional fuels with internally generated process gas. This is expected to improve operational flexibility and efficiency while providing a relatively direct way to reduce emissions without fundamentally changing the blast-furnace process.

Tata Steel said the project forms part of its wider decarbonisation and technology investment programme. In FY26, the company recorded consolidated carbon dioxide emission intensity of 2.22 tonnes per tonne of crude steel and reported R&D expenditure of Rs. 14.56 bn. The Meramandali facility, formerly known as Bhushan Steel, became part of Tata Steel after Bamnipal Steel completed its acquisition in 2018. The plant is described as one of India’s leading integrated steel facilities and the country’s largest producer of auto-grade steel.