NITI Aayog Hosts Workshop on CCUS in Indian Cement Sector
NITI Aayog has organized a workshop titled "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) in the Indian Cement Sector" at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The workshop saw participation from Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Dr. VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog; Sh. Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Power; Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, DG CSIR and dignitaries from government, PSUs, industry, think tanks, and academia.
The workshop is part of India’s ongoing efforts to achieve its net-zero target of 2070 and ensure a sustainable future. Decarbonizing the cement sector is vital for meeting the country's long-term environmental goals, and to achieve that, CCUS needs to play a crucial role in reducing emissions in the cement sector.
In the inaugural session, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister highlighted the significant challenges in decarbonizing the cement sector, a particularly hard-to-abate industry. He stressed the importance of balancing economic growth with emissions reduction and underscored the pivotal role of research and development in advancing carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies to achieve these objectives.
Dr. V K Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, commended the Honourable Prime Minister's leadership in guiding India toward a net-zero economy, as reflected in the nation's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). He emphasized the essential role of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), along with clean technology, in reducing emissions.
Sh. Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Power, indicated that the ministry is working on preparing the CCUS Mission. Sh. Ranjith Rath, CMD Oil India Limited, emphasized the urgency of innovative carbon capture and storage solutions, exploring geo-sequestration techniques and multidisciplinary approaches to mitigate emissions and achieve global climate goals. The discussions also highlighted the role of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in developing CCUS technologies in the country. DST has also set up a Centre of Excellence on "Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Sequestration" Cross-disciplinary Initiatives [DST-CoE-CCUS-CDI] to address the mitigation of CO2 emissions to achieve Net Zero aspirations of the Indian Government.
The workshop addressed several critical topics such as CCUS Technologies and associated Challenges and Feasibility, Financing of CCUS in India, CO₂ Utilization and Storage, and the Vision for CCUS in Cement. The workshop underscored the urgency of developing a comprehensive CCUS roadmap for the cement sector.
