National Institute of Technology (NIT) Durgapur in association with Durgapur Steel Plant is going to organise five days short-term course on green steel as part of the India-Australia Mineral Scholar Programme (IAMSN).

“The short-term course will be a comprehensive approach to tackling carbon emissions in the steel industry, with a strong focus on sustainability. It will highlight key strategies for decarbonisation, including the use of hydrogen-based processes, increasing energy efficiency, and integrating renewable energy sources,” said professor Arvind Choubey, director of NIT Durgapur.

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He further added that the programme is structured to educate participants on critical aspects like hydrogen fundamentals, various decarbonisation pathways, such as direct reduced iron (DRI) process and electrolytic routes, which are pivotal in producing ‘green’ steel.

Moreover, with global climate goals and the agreements like the Paris Agreement driving the urgency in change, the programme’s insights are highly relevant, not just for Australia but for the global steel industry. This will make the programme particularly beneficial for industry professionals, researchers and policymakers, who are committed to fostering a sustainable and low carbon future in steel production.

“The objective of this short time course is designed such that it should be able to lighten the research scholars, faculty and industrial participants about the latest developments and research aspects in the field of Green Steel making globally,” said professor Arup Kumar Mandal, coordinator of the STC and Project leader of Green Steel of NIT Durgapur.

India-Australia Minerals Scholar Network (IAMSN) has been included in the Joint statements made by Australian Prime Minister Antholy Albanese, who visited India to meet PM Narendra Modi on 8 March 2023, with the goal of enhancing overall bilateral involvement in a number of areas, including trade, investment, green steel and critical minerals. Finally, both the prime ministers signed a MoU in the 1st annual summit, held in New Delhi on 10 March 2023.

For the collaborative research on green steel and critical minerals, India-Australia Mineral Scholar Network has been announced.

National Institute of Technology (Durgapur) is the first institution in the country which has been selected for the green steel steel short term course by IAMSN.

India’s National Steel Policy (NSP) for 2030 aims to drastically increase the country’s steel production and consumption to 300 million tonnes by 2030-2031 and increase per capita steel consumption by 160 kilograms.

The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has drawn an ambitious expansion plans to augment capacity of its integrated steel plants. In West Bengal also two SAIL plants – IISCO Steel Plant in Burnpur and Durgapur Steel Plant are set for massive expansion projects.

Only yesterday, the Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by PM Narendra Modi has sanctioned the massive Rs 11,400 crore expansion plan of RINL in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh as a step forward to produce green steel.