Indian companies with ambitions to build low-carbon pathways for industry are partnering with Swedish technology innovators on seven projects that will kick-start decarbonization in India’s steel and cement sectors.
The projects include utilising hydrogen for rotary kilns in steel making, the recycling of steel slag for green cement, and the use of AI to support cement decarbonization.
Today, heavy industry accounts for around one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions and consumes approximately one-third of the world’s energy. In India, the iron and steel sector is the largest industrial source of carbon emissions, contributing 10–12 per cent of the national total, while cement production adds almost 6 per cent.
As India advances towards its net-zero target by 2070, reducing emissions from these hard-to-abate sectors is essential to supporting the country’s infrastructure development, industrial growth, and long-term climate ambitions.
Seven innovative projects have been selected to conduct pre-pilot feasibility studies in India under the LeadIT industry transition partnership, with funding from the Indian Department of Science and Technology and the Swedish Energy Agency.
The Leadership Group for Industry Transition welcomes the new partnerships and looks forward to following their transformative ambition. We hope it will inspire others to accelerate the transition. The match between Swedish and Indian organisations and companies, supported by key public institutions on both sides, is leading the way on how to model modern industrial partnerships.
Per Andersson, Head of the LeadIT Secretariat.
Steel Slag Reborn: Dual value generation through high metallic recovery and sustainable supplementary cementitious material (SCM) production. Will create industrial symbiosis, where steel industry by-products become a resource for cement production.
Microwave plasma-assisted CO₂-conversion of blast furnace off-gas. Explores microwave plasma-assisted conversion of steel blast furnace off-gas CO₂ into carbon monoxide (CO), which can be reinjected as a reducing agent.
Feasibility study for establishing an integrated carbon capture and utilization unit at a cement industry facility.
Feasibility study for AI-based platform ACORN to optimize concrete mix designs in the RMC industry for reduced climate impact. Explores the potential of using AI for concrete recipe optimization.
Electric heating methods for future CO₂-neutral steel production. Assess concepts for electric gas heating, focusing on hydrogen and other process gases in ironmaking process, with the specific aim to reduce or eliminate CO₂ emissions.
Electrified green ironmaking pilot using rotary kiln technology. Aims to conduct a feasibility study for a pilot plant based on a novel fossil-free ironmaking process using hydrogen and an electrically heated rotary kiln.
Decarbonisation of cement production with carbon capture. Screen three carbon capture technologies – amine absorption, hot potassium carbonate, and membranes.
LeadIT was established by the Governments of India and Sweden in 2019 to mobilize public and private sector action to drive the global industrial transition. The initiative brings together 18 countries and 28 companies committed to accelerating pathways towards an inclusive, just and equitable transition to net zero emissions from heavy industry. Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) hosts its secretariat.
The Sweden–India Industry Transition Partnership (ITP) is a bilateral initiative launched in 2023 by the Governments of India and Sweden as part of the Leadership Group for Industry Transition. It aims to accelerate the decarbonization of heavy industry, particularly steel and cement, in India.
The Swedish Energy Agency and the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched parallel calls for proposals during the summer of 2025, to identify joint Indo-Swedish industrial transition projects for steel and cement. The calls invited companies, research institutions, and technology providers to propose collaborative solutions that could be advanced through early-stage demonstration. This announcement is a result of these coordinated calls.
Project / The Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) aims to enable the transition of heavy industry towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
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