Availability of green hydrogen in India will reduce dependency on coal in steelmaking, Tata Steel CEO T. V. Narendran said in a statement on Wednesday, September 27.
Mr. Narendran said that the way steel is produced is undergoing considerable changes, with new plants being established across the industry. The key factor contributing to this change is the use of hydrogen as both fuel and reductive agent. This shift not only reduces reliance on coal but also paves the way for scrap material to replace ore as the primary input in steel manufacturing processes.
Tata Steel plans to scale up the usage of hydrogen in the steelmaking process after the successful completion of the pilot project at its Jamshedpur plant in Jharkhand, he said.
In April 2023, Tata Steel commenced the first-of-its-kind experiment injecting hydrogen gas using 40 percent of the injection systems in an E-blast furnace at its steel plant in Jamshedpur.
The Tata Steel CEO forecast a vast potential for growth in the steel industry, particularly in recycling and said that the recycling industry will eventually surpass mining in the next few decades.
He said that, despite the ever-evolving technological landscape, steel remains a vital commodity due to its availability and with a price tag of INR 55/kg it means it sometimes costs less than tomatoes.