NITI Aayog unveils sectoral roadmaps to decarbonise cement, aluminium and green-transition MSMEs

Key facts

• NITI Aayog has proposed setting up a National Project Management Agency (NPMA) and allocating 8-9% of the credit-guarantee fund value to help an estimated 69 million MSMEs in the country go green as India works towards becoming Net Zero by 2070.
• MSMEs alone have contributed 135 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2022.
• The Aayog has called for supporting MSMEs in terms of technology upgradation, market access, and green transition to fulfil ‘Viksit Bharat’ goals by 2047.
• In a separate report on Roadmap for Cement Sector Decarbonisation, the Aayog has proposed increased usage of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) from municipal solid waste for substituting thermal heating from coal.
• It has suggested increased usage of supplementary cementitious materials or clinker substitutes and scaling up Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) in the cement industry for capturing CO2 in process emission.
• By using these three solutions, the Indian cement sector may reduce 80-85% GHG emission by 2070.
• In a third report on Roadmap for Aluminium Sector Decarbonisation a three-stage process to reduce the sector’s carbon footprint.
• Aluminium production accounted for approximately 2.8% of India’s GHG emissions or 83 MTCO2 e in 2023, and without intervention, emissions could rise to 376 MTCO2 e by 2070.