India Plans to Allocate $529 Million to Reduce Emissions in the Steel Industry

India's Ministry of Steel is developing a $529 million financial support package to help the sector adopt emission-reduction technologies. The plan is expected to be formally unveiled within three months before being submitted to the Union Cabinet for approval.

The initiative, tentatively titled the "National Strategy for the Sustainable Development of the Secondary Steel Industry," will be open to steel producers across the board, though the bulk of the funding is earmarked for secondary metallurgy enterprises — smaller, scrap-based mills that typically operate with tighter margins and older equipment.

The framework leans on financial and tax incentives rather than mandates, aiming to make it commercially viable for producers to shift toward cleaner production methods and alternative raw materials.

The push comes as steel remains one of India's most carbon-intensive industries, contributing an estimated 10–12% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions. The sector's average emission intensity stands at 2.55 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of crude steel, well above the global average of roughly 1.9 tonnes.

The new package builds on earlier steps, including three pilot hydrogen-based steelmaking projects approved in March with combined support of about $41 million, signaling a broader shift toward decarbonizing what has long been considered a hard-to-abate sector.

For manufacturers supplying protective coatings to steel plants, the continued investment in both new and existing steel infrastructure points to sustained demand for industrial-grade anti-corrosion and high-temperature coating solutions across the sector.