Top steelmakers ask for federal funding to cut carbon emissions

India's top steelmakers have asked the government to render federal funding and other economic assistance to assist them to fulfil the goals for cutting carbon emissions.

India, the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China and the United States, has committed to achieving a net-zero carbon emission goal by 2070 and increasing the share of renewables in its energy mix to 50% by 2030.

Indian steelmakers want federal subsidies and tax incentives to source new technologies, the Indian Steel Association (ISA) told the media, in a statement ahead of the nation's annual budget on February 1, as they ask to cut emissions to 2.4 tonnes of Carbon dioxide per tonne of crude steel output by 2030 from 2.6 tonnes in 2020.

The association has additionally asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration to make it compulsory for government-supported construction projects - the top steel consumer - to source a portion of the alloy from low-carbon producers.

Steel firms consider that government incentives for low carbon technologies, state funding of green pilot projects and a market for steel made by green technologies would allow a low carbon footprint, T.V. Narendran, chief executive and managing director of Tata Steel Ltd, told the media.

Top steelmakers, comprising AM/NS India - a joint venture (JV) between ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel - said high initial capital costs were required to drop carbon emissions.

Operating low carbon steel facilities would be largely expensive in the short to medium term at least, Dilip Oommen, chief executive officer at AM/NS India, told the media.

The sector is taking initiatives on its own to decrease its carbon impact, but requires policy and public help to adopt deep decarbonisation technology that is economically feasible at the early stage of adoption, Sajjan Jindal, chairman of the JSW group, told the media.

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