The Union Ministry of Steel is working on the country’s first-ever Green Steel Mission, even as it attempts to define these new metal offerings that may be manufactured using low-carbon energy sources or have low-embedded carbon emissions.

Parallelly, as part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, three pilot projects that will use hydrogen for steel production have been approved with a financial support of Rs.3.47 billion and by the year end, the Green Steel Mission should be ready.

Green steel has no universally accepted criteria but implies a metal made from low carbon energy sources like renewable energy or electric arc furnaces. Experts said that the ministry should define green steel in 'percentage terms' based on a steel plant’s emission intensity. The benchmark emission set by the ministry is 2.2 tonne of carbon dioxide emitted per tonne of crude steel produced.

Recently, Simplex Castings said that its 40 TPD plant is estimated to cost  Rs. 2.3 billion and that it will serve as a model for sustainable steel production, supporting India’s transition to a green economy.