ResponsibleSteel in India: The First Movers Coalition In-Country Workshop, Surfacing Supply of Near-Zero Emission Steel

India is the world’s second-largest steel producer. The steel industry accounts for around 12% of India’s emissions and steel production is set to grow rapidly. This month ResponsibleSteel is in India to dive into the particular dynamics of the challenges in a country where the population uses one-third of the global average steel consumption per head.

As part of the Steel Breakthrough Agenda, we have been working with the First Movers Coalition to drive alignment and accelerate steel decarbonisation. The First Movers Coalition aims to pull forward the deployment of clean and deeply decarbonising technologies through its members’ commitments to procure 10% from near-zero sources by 2030.

We were delighted to participate in last week’s First Movers Coalition’s In-Country Workshop: Surfacing Supply of Near-Zero Emission Steel in New Delhi.

Our CEO, Annie Heaton, spoke about the practicalities of activating these commitments in the Indian context. Steel production is set to double by 2030. The challenge is immense. The major Indian steel companies are investing in technology innovation. Yet the conditions are not in place to accelerate deployment of decarbonisation projects.

Consolidated demand-side signals, reduced-cost finance, and ambitious and accelerated policy levers are all needed. But as Annie explained, “above all, a common carbon measurement standard and definition of near zero steel is needed to ensure these all work together.” The ResponsibleSteel International Standard has the potential to provide such a framework to drive equitable steel decarbonisation globally.

Shivakumar Kuppuswamy, ResponsibleSteel’s Director of Development and Innovation, also hosted a distinguished panel of guests who provided first hand observations of what it will take to accelerate steel decarbonisation in India. The panellists included Secretary Shri Nagendra Nath Sinha from the Indian Ministry of Steel, alongside Lenin D’Souza, Deputy General Manager of Mahindra, Sohanjeet Randhawa, Director for Sustainability Affairs & Group Communications for Volvo Group, Rajesh Goyal, Sr. Vice President of ReNew Power, Manish Chourasia, Managing Director of Tata Cleantech Capital Limited, and Mr Anand Parasramka, CFO at Saarloha Advanced Materials Limited – Kalyani Ferresta.

At the top of the FMC workshop’s agenda was the need for a strategy to capture CCUS potential as well as hydrogen growth, and the development of a carbon reduction incentive programme. On top of this, government-backed green bonds, low-interest debt, and risk-sharing processes were all suggested as interventions the government could support in order to drive the necessary investments in steel decarbonisation.

Next up, ResponsibleSteel will be hosting an event as part of the Clean Energy Ministerial in Goa this week. On July 22nd, we will be bringing together key stakeholders from the steel industry, downstream, and government, to discuss the role of the ResponsibleSteel International Standard in impacting policy, finance and the energy transition in order to accelerate steel decarbonisation in India.

Find out more about this and other upcoming events here.