India’s cement sector embarks on large-scale carbon capture journey to achieve net-zero

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1. https://indiancementreview.com/2026/01/19/from-vision-to-action-fornnax-global-growth-strategy-for-2026/ – Please view link – unable to able to access data
2. https://www.teriin.org/press-release/gcca-india-and-teri-launch-decarbonisation-roadmap-indian-cement-industry-net-zero – The Global Cement and Concrete Association India (GCCA India), in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), launched the ‘Decarbonisation Roadmap for the Indian Cement Industry: Net zero CO₂ emissions by 2070’. This initiative aligns with India’s commitment to net-zero emissions and reflects the cement sector’s aspiration to lead in climate action. India, as the world’s second-largest cement producer, accounts for 8% of the global installed capacity and contributes approximately 7% of India’s total CO₂ emissions. The roadmap outlines a structured pathway for the Indian cement sector to achieve net-zero CO₂ by 2070, with an interim target for 2047, in line with the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. Developed through a collaborative effort involving industry leaders, research institutions, academia, and sectoral experts, the roadmap emphasizes the need for strong policy support and financial incentives from the government to achieve these aspirations.
3. https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/renewable/cement-industry-needs-35-45-emissions-reduction-via-ccus-to-achieve-net-zero-by-2070/117346290 – The Indian cement sector, responsible for 5.8% of the country’s total CO₂ emissions, requires carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies to achieve 35-45% emissions reduction and meet the net-zero target by 2070. This was highlighted at a workshop organized by NITI Aayog at Vigyan Bhawan. The workshop, titled ‘Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) in the Indian Cement Sector,’ brought together government officials, industry leaders, researchers, and academicians to discuss decarbonization strategies. The Indian cement industry, with an installed capacity of 600 million tonnes and annual production of 391 million tonnes, is pivotal to the country’s infrastructure development and contributes significantly to its economy. ‘CCUS is an indispensable tool to address emissions in the cement sector, which is critical for achieving India’s long-term climate goals,’ said Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister. He emphasized the importance of balancing economic growth with environmental targets and advancing research and development to overcome challenges in decarbonizing this hard-to-abate sector. Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, stated that the cement industry plays a key role in the Asia-Pacific region, which is witnessing rapid growth in the global cement market. ‘Carbon capture and utilization technologies, combined with clean energy initiatives, are essential to reducing emissions in the cement sector,’ he said. He further highlighted the importance of carbon pricing and climate finance in supporting decarbonization efforts. India possesses significant potential for CCUS, with regions such as the Krishna-Godavari Basin, Deccan Traps, and mature oil and gas fields offering substantial CO₂ storage capacity. Innovative utilization pathways, including producing methanol, biodegradable plastics, and value-added chemicals, were discussed as potential solutions for creating a low-carbon future. Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Power, announced that the government is preparing a comprehensive CCUS Mission to support these efforts. Ranjith Rath, CMD, Oil India Limited, emphasized the need for innovative solutions and geo-sequestration techniques to mitigate emissions effectively.
4. https://indiancementreview.com/2025/02/12/adopting-ccus-technologies-requires-breaking-silos/ – Despite progress, several systemic obstacles hinder the mass deployment of CCUS in India’s cement industry. Technology readiness remains a fundamental issue: apart from MEA-based capture, most technologies are not commercially mature in high-volume cement plants. Furthermore, CCUS is costly. Studies by CEEW estimate that achieving net-zero cement in India would require around US$ 334 billion in capital investments and US$ 3 billion annually in operating costs by 2050, potentially raising cement prices between 19–107 per cent. This is particularly problematic for an industry where companies frequently operate at capacity utilisations of only 65–70 per cent and remain locked in fierce price competition. Building out transport and storage infrastructure compounds the difficulty, since many cement plants lie far from suitable geological CO₂ storage sites. Moreover, retrofitting capture plants onto operational cement production lines adds technical integration struggles, as capture systems must function reliably under the high-particulate and high-temperature environment of cement kilns. Overcoming these hurdles requires a multi-pronged approach rooted in policy, finance, and global cooperation. Policy support is vital to bridge the cost gap through instruments like production-linked incentives, preferential green cement procurement, tax credits, and carbon pricing mechanisms. Strategic planning to develop shared CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure, ideally in industrial clusters, would significantly lower costs and risks. International coordination can also accelerate adoption. The Global Cement and Concrete Association’s net-zero roadmap provides a collaborative template, while North–South technology transfer offers developing countries access to proven technologies. Financing mechanisms such as blended finance, green bonds tailored for cement decarbonisation and multilateral risk guarantees will reduce capital barriers. An integrated value-chain approach will be critical. Coordinated development of industrial clusters allows multiple emitters—cement, steel, and chemicals—to share common CO₂ infrastructure, enabling economies of scale and lowering unit capture costs. Public–private partnerships can further pool resources to build this ecosystem. Ultimately, decarbonisation is neither optional nor niche for Indian cement. It is an imperative driven by India’s growth trajectory, environmental sustainability commitments, and changing global markets where carbon intensity will define trade competitiveness. With compliance obligations already mandated under CCTS, the cement industry must accelerate decarbonisation rapidly over the next two years to meet binding reduction targets. The challenge is to balance industrial development with ambitious climate goals, securing both economic resilience and ecological sustainability. The pathway forward depends on decisive governmental support, cross-sectoral innovation, global solidarity, and forward-looking corporate action. The industry’s future lies in reframing decarbonisation not as a burden but as an investment in competitiveness, climate alignment and social responsibility.
5. https://indiancementreview.com/2025/03/25/highlighting-the-future-of-smart-sustainable-infra/ – Moving CCUS in cement from pilots to practice requires a sequenced roadmap aligning technology maturity, infrastructure development, and policy support: the IEA estimates that achieving net zero will require CCUS to scale from less than 1 Mt of CO₂ captured today to over 1.2 Gt annually by 2050, while the GCCA Net Zero Roadmap projects CCUS contributing 30 per cent to 40 per cent of total cement-sector emissions reductions by mid-century, alongside efficiency, alternative fuels, and clinker substitution. MM Rathi, Joint President – Power Plants, Shree Cement, says, ‘The Indian cement sector is currently at a pilot to early demonstration stage of CCUS readiness. A few companies have initiated small-scale pilots focused on capturing CO₂ from kiln flue gases and exploring utilisation routes such as mineralisation and concrete curing. CCUS has not yet reached commercial integration due to high capture costs (US$ 80-150 per tonne of CO₂), lack of transport and storage infrastructure, limited access to storage sites, and absence of long-term policy incentives. While Europe and North America have begun early commercial deployment, large-scale CCUS adoption in India is more realistically expected post-2035, subject to enabling infrastructure and policy frameworks.’ Early pilots—such as India’s DST-backed CCU testbeds and Europe’s first commercial-scale plants—serve as learning platforms to validate integration, costs, and operational reliability, but large-scale deployment will depend on cluster-based scale-up, as emphasised by the IPCC AR6, which highlights the need for early CO₂ transport and storage planning to avoid long-term emissions lock-in. For India, the GCCA–TERI India Roadmap identifies CCUS as indispensable for achieving net-zero by 2070, following a pragmatic pathway: pilot today to build confidence, cluster in the 2030s to reduce costs, and institutionalise CCUS by mid-century so that low-carbon cement becomes the default, not a niche, in the country’s infrastructure growth. Conclusion Cement will remain indispensable to India’s development, but its long-term viability hinges on addressing its hardest emissions challenge—process CO₂ from calcination—which efficiency gains, alternative fuels, and clinker substitution alone cannot eliminate; global evidence from the IPCC, IEA, and GCCA confirms that Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is the only scalable pathway capable of delivering the depth of reduction required for net zero. With early commercial projects emerging in Europe and structured pilots underway in India, CCUS has moved beyond theory into a decisive decade where learning, localisation, and integration will shape outcomes; however, success will depend less on technology availability and more on collective execution, including coordinated policy frameworks, shared transport and storage infrastructure, robust carbon markets, and carbon-literate capabilities. For India, a deliberate transition from pilots to practice—anchored in cluster-based deployment, supported by public–private partnerships, and aligned with national development and climate goals—can transform CCUS from a high-cost intervention into a mainstream industrial solution, enabling the cement sector to keep building the nation while sharply reducing its climate footprint.
6. https://www.teriin.org/press-release/gcca-india-and-teri-launch-decarbonisation-roadmap-indian-cement-industry-net-zero – The Global Cement and Concrete Association India (GCCA India), in collaboration with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), launched the ‘Decarbonisation Roadmap for the Indian Cement Industry: Net zero CO₂ emissions by 2070’. This initiative aligns with India’s commitment to net-zero emissions and reflects the cement sector’s aspiration to lead in climate action. India, as the world’s second-largest cement producer, accounts for 8% of the global installed capacity and contributes approximately 7% of India’s total CO₂ emissions. The roadmap outlines a structured pathway for the Indian cement sector to achieve net-zero CO₂ by 2070, with an interim target for 2047, in line with the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’. Developed through a collaborative effort involving industry leaders, research institutions, academia, and sectoral experts, the roadmap emphasizes the need for strong policy support and financial incentives from the government to achieve these aspirations.