A new study from the University of California, Berkeley says India can avoid more than Rs 100 lakh crore in coking coal imports over 40 years by switching to green steel production. The research from the India Energy and Climate Center and the Energy and Resources Group shows that hydrogen-based steelmaking could reach cost parity with conventional blast furnaces by 2030, with green steel priced about 5% higher than traditional methods. The study warns that expanding steel capacity to 300 million tonnes by 2030 using coal would require 5.8 billion tonnes of coking coal imports and release 19.5 gigatonnes of CO2. Green steel offers a path to lock in long-term, rupee-denominated renewable power contracts instead of dollar-priced coal imports. The researchers call for a market-creation framework including offtake agreements, credible emissions standards, and risk-sharing mechanisms for early projects.
