India’s ministry of steel has appointed government-run consultancy firm Mecon Limited to prepare the roadmap for the use of green hydrogen in the direct reduction iron (DRI) and blast furnace routes of steel making, government sources said on Friday, June 7.
MECON operates under the steel ministry and provides a range of services, primarily in the fields of engineering, consultancy, and project management across sectors.
The roadmap to be prepared by the consultants will factor in the ministry’s new and renewable energy guidelines for pilot green hydrogen plants in the steel sector, for which a corpus of around $55 million has been set aside to provide financial assistance.
The sources said that the use of green hydrogen in the steel sector is a priority for the government toward decarbonising the industry.
The steel sector accounts for about 12 percent of India's carbon dioxide emissions, with an emission intensity of 2.55 mt of carbon dioxide emitted per mt of crude steel produced.