The Kalyani Group company, Saarloha Advanced Materials (Saarloha), has announced that ‘green’ steel will be produced in its electric arc furnace plant in Pune, Maharashtra. The company has invested Rs 400 crore in solar and wind energy to power its electric arc furnaces. Amit Kalyani, Deputy Managing Director of Bharat Forge, told CNBC-TV18 that the company is planet positive, so everything they do will aim to enhance the sustainability of the planet.

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Creating the capability of making green steel by using renewable resources, recycling and reducing usage of fossil fuels is a big step towards achieving the sustainable development goals globally, he said.

“Our steel plants are running at full capacity utilisation, but that is overall in steel production. When it comes to green steel, Saarloha can be fully converted to make green steel. Today we forecast that in the first year we will probably make between 15-25 percent of green steel,” he said.

Saarloha's 250,000-metric tonne production capacity will allow it to produce long steel of various grades while reducing its greenhouse gas footprint to 140 kg for each tonne it produces.

On its clientele, Kalyani said the company will first target "niche" industries. “Among industries which are highly polluting and need to reduce their carbon footprint, such as energy production, oil and gas production, there are definitely some who want to reduce their carbon footprint. Those are the industries that are also keen to work with us and are taking the first mover advantage that we are providing," he added.

Also read: Bharat Forge declares interim dividend of Rs 1.50 per share

Later they will spread to more mass markets, he said.

On pricing, he said since the Kalyani group is among the first producers, so green steel will obviously be more expensive than conventional steel. The steel industry is responsible for 7 percent of the India's greenhouse gas emissions and 2 percent of the GDP. With expanded production to fulfil domestic and international demand, the present annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the steel industry are predicted to double from 242 MT by 2030 and triple by 2050.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Union Minister for Steel, said in a statement to the Rajya Sabha on Monday, December 19, that the government was considering mandating the use of green steel in public projects. He said between 2005 and 2022, emissions from the steel industry were reduced by 15 percent, and that the Centre aims to further reduce emissions by 10 percent by 2030. Both the amount of energy used per tonne of steel produced and the CO2 emission intensity have decreased, Scindia added.

Also read: JSW Steel investing Rs 10000 crore for greener steel, signs MoU with Germany's SMS group

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Dec 21, 2022 6:39 PM IST