Context
- A recent analysis argues that India can substantially reduce future steel-sector emissions by redirecting investments from new or relined coal-based blast furnaces towards Direct Reduced Iron (DRI), Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs) and eventually green hydrogen-based production.
India’s Steel Production and Emissions Profile
- Steel is called a “hard-to-abate” sector — high heat and carbon (as reducing agent) are intrinsic to conventional production.
- India is the second-largest crude steel producer in the world, after China.
- India produced around 160 million tonnes of crude steel in FY 2025–26.
- Steelmaking accounts for nearly 12% of India’s greenhouse-gas emissions.
- India’s steelmaking emissions intensity is around 2.55–2.65 tCO₂e per tonne of crude steel, higher than the global average.
- India is targeting net-zero emissions by 2070; steel is one of the toughest sectors to align with this goal.
The Problem of “Carbon Lock-in”
- Carbon lock-in occurs when investment in long-lived fossil-fuel infrastructure makes continued emissions economically and institutionally difficult to avoid. This is particularly important for blast furnaces.
- Blast furnaces (BF) typically operate 20–25 years; a mid-life “relining” (capital-intensive relining of the furnace lining) extends life by another 15–20 years.
Key Steelmaking Production Routes in India
- BF-BOF (Blast Furnace–Basic Oxygen Furnace): Uses coal/coke to melt iron ore; highly carbon-intensive. Accounts for ~43% of Indian steel production and 70.4% of global steelmaking still uses BF-BOF.
- Electric Arc Furnace (EAF): EAF uses electricity to melt steel scrap and DRI, and can have much lower emissions than the coal-based BF–BOF route when powered by clean electricity.
- Direct Reduced Iron (DRI): DRI removes oxygen from iron ore without melting it, using natural gas or hydrogen as the reducing agent.
- Direct Reduced Iron – Electric Arc / Induction Furnace Accounts for ~57% of Indian production.
- Hydrogen-based DRI-EAF (“Green Steel”): Green hydrogen replaces natural gas/coal as the reducing agent; near-zero emissions if hydrogen is produced from renewables.
Major Initiatives & Policy Frameworks
- National Mission on Green Steel / National Green Hydrogen Mission linkage:
- Target: lower steel sector emissions intensity from current ~2.55–2.65 tCO2e/tonne to 2.2 tCO2e/tonne of crude steel by 2029-30.
- A 2024 Green Steel certification scheme labels steel with emissions intensity below 2.2 tCO2e as “green.”
- Note: Even India’s “green” threshold (2.2 tCO2e) remains well above the global average of ~1.85 tCO2e.
- Draft National Steel Policy 2025:
- Aims to cut emissions intensity to 2 tCO2/tonne by 2035-36.
- Targets more than doubling crude steel capacity to 400 million tonnes/year by 2035-36.
- Reduce coking coal import dependence from roughly 90% down to 80%.
- Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) funded pilot projects (~₹400+ crore) to validate 100% green hydrogen injection in DRI (Direct Reduced Iron) and blast furnaces.
| Important Current to Concept (CTC) from this article for UPSC Green Steel |
Q. With reference to green steel and the Indian steel industry, consider the following statements:
1. The BF-BOF route uses coking coal as a reducing agent, resulting in higher emissions intensity than the scrap-based Electric Arc Furnace route.
2. Under the National Mission on Green Steel, any steel produced with an emissions intensity below 2.2 tonnes of CO2-equivalent per tonne of crude steel can be certified as green steel.
3. Electric Arc Furnaces cannot utilize Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and must rely entirely on imported steel scrap.
4. India’s average emissions intensity per tonne of crude steel is currently lower than the global average.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2, and 4 only
(d) 1, 3, and 4 only
Answer: (a) 1 and 2 only
Explanation:
• Statement 1 is correct: BF-BOF burns coking coal to strip oxygen from iron ore, making it significantly more carbon-intensive than EAF setups using scrap or DRI.
• Statement 2 is correct: The official certification scheme classifies steel produced with emissions intensity below 2.2tCO2e/tonne as "green."
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Electric Arc Furnaces can process both scrap and Direct Reduced Iron (DRI)/sponge iron.
• Statement 4 is incorrect: India’s steelmaking emissions intensity (~2.55–2.65 tCO2e) is approximately 32% higher than the global average (~1.85 tCO2e).