A spotlight on decarbonising heavy industry in India: Narratives on iron and steel, cement, and chemicals

The heavy industry sector has been a key player in ensuring job security and enabling India to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. The sector has contributed significantly to the country’s socio-economic development and urbanisation, due to which energy demand has been on the rise. As the country is rapidly transforming, the demand for iron and steel is expected to rise significantly, making the need to disassociate economic prosperity from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions necessary now more than ever.

This report is part of a heavy industry scoping study across three sectors – iron and steel, cement, and chemicals. It draws key insights from extensive literature review, stakeholder and expert interviews with both businesses and civil society, and two virtual workshops held between September and December 2020. These activities present the current state of play in India’s heavy industry decarbonisation as well as the potential opportunities and way forward.