The government is working on modalities to mandate public procurement of green steel, a move towards smoother transition from the traditional carbon steel, a senior official said.
Green steel refers to steel produced with significantly reduced carbon emissions compared to traditional methods.
"Green steel will be in the market and will be competing with not so green steel," Ashwini Kumar, Economic Adviser in the steel ministry said adding that "there is need to mandate some kind of public procurement of green steel. We are working on that also." He was addressing the India Steel Conclave 2025 organised by Assocham.
"It is a tricky business. I don't know when we will see green steel public procurement coming into force but still modalities are being worked out," he said adding that the government is also working on Green Steel Mission.
He further said that European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is against the spirit of free trade agreement.
CBAM is the EU's proposed tax on energy-intensive products, such as iron, steel, cement, fertilizers and aluminium imported from countries like India and China.
Ministry of Steel is preparing Green Steel Mission with an estimated cost of Rs 15,000 crore for helping the steel industry reduce carbon emission and progress towards the net-zero target. The mission includes PLI scheme for green steel, incentives for use of renewable energy and mandates for government agencies to buy green steel.