{"id":64912,"date":"2026-01-22T18:29:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=64912"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:39:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T07:09:27","slug":"niti-aayog-green-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/22-01-2026\/niti-aayog-green-transition","title":{"rendered":"NITI Aayog Reports on Green Transition in Cement, Aluminium and MSME Sectors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>NITI Aayog has released three reports outlining decarbonisation roadmaps for the cement, aluminum and MSME sectors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Decarbonisation of Cement Sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Growth:<\/strong> Cement production is projected to increase from <strong>391 million tonnes in 2023<\/strong> to about 2,100 million tonnes by 2070, reflecting India\u2019s infrastructure and urbanisation needs.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is the world\u2019s <strong>second\u2011largest<\/strong> cement producer after China, contributing about <strong>13%<\/strong> of global annual cement output.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The sector contributes about <strong>7% <\/strong>of India\u2019s total greenhouse gas emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Decarbonisation Targets:<\/strong> The roadmap envisages reducing carbon intensity from 0.63 tCO\u2082e per tonne of cement at present to <strong>0.09\u20130.13 tCO\u2082e<\/strong> per tonne by 2070.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Key Decarbonisation Strategies:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Prioritising refuse-derived fuels (RDF)<\/strong> to reduce coal dependence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clinker substitution<\/strong> through greater use of supplementary cementitious materials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scaling up Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) <\/strong>for residual process emissions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Effective implementation of the<strong> Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS)<\/strong> to incentivise low-carbon production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Decarbonisation of Aluminium Sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Production Outlook:<\/strong> Aluminium production is projected to rise sharply from <strong>4 million tonnes<\/strong> in 2023 to <strong>37 million tonnes<\/strong> by 2070.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Phased Decarbonisation Pathway:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Short term: <\/strong>Transition to <strong>Renewable Energy\u2013Round the Clock (RE-RTC) <\/strong>power and strengthening grid connectivity and reliability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Medium term:<\/strong> Adoption of nuclear power to provide stable, low-carbon baseload electricity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Long term: <\/strong>Integration of CCUS to address remaining emissions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Decarbonisation of MSME Sector<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Economic Significance:<\/strong> MSMEs contribute nearly <strong>30% of India\u2019s GDP<\/strong>, employment to over<strong> 250 million people<\/strong>, and around <strong>46% of India\u2019s exports.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Roadmap for Green Transition<\/strong> of MSMEs is built around three key levers:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Deployment of <strong>energy-efficient equipment <\/strong>to reduce energy intensity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adoption of <strong>alternative fuels<\/strong> to cut fossil fuel dependence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integration of green electricity<\/strong> through renewable power procurement and self-generation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Initiatives taken by India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Udyam Registration &amp; MSME Sustainable (ZED) Certification: <\/strong>Promote resource efficiency, energy efficiency and cleaner production practices among MSMEs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) Scheme: <\/strong>A flagship initiative under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, PAT targets energy-intensive industries like cement by setting specific energy consumption reduction targets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Smart Grid Mission &amp; Green Open Access Rules (2022):<\/strong> Facilitate renewable energy procurement, especially for energy-intensive industries and MSMEs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>India&#8217;s Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS)<\/strong> creates a market for reducing emissions in heavy industries like cement and aluminum by setting <strong>mandatory intensity targets,<\/strong> rewarding overachievers with credits (CCCs) for trading, and encouraging innovation in low-carbon technology.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges in Green Transition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hard-to-abate emissions: <\/strong>Cement process emissions from limestone calcination and electricity-intensive aluminium smelting limit mitigation through renewables alone.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High capital costs: <\/strong>Technologies such as CCUS, RE-RTC power and nuclear <strong>integration require large upfront investments with long payback periods.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Green finance constraints:<\/strong> MSMEs face limited access to affordable credit, weak balance sheets and high borrowing costs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Clean power availability:<\/strong> Lack of reliable round-the-clock renewable energy and grid constraints hinder deep decarbonisation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Scaling green finance: <\/strong>Expand blended finance, credit guarantees and concessional lending, especially for MSMEs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technology development and localisation: <\/strong>Accelerate domestic manufacturing of clean industrial technologies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening carbon markets:<\/strong> Ensure transparent and credible implementation of the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2217063&amp;reg=3&amp;lang=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">NITI Aayog has released three reports outlining decarbonisation roadmaps for the cement, aluminum and MSME sectors.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Decarbonisation of Cement Sector<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Growth: Cement production is projected to increase from 391 million tonnes in 2023 to about 2,100 million tonnes by 2070, reflecting India\u2019s infrastructure and urbanisation needs.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">India is the world\u2019s second\u2011largest cement producer after China, contributing about 13% of global annual cement output.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64913,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64912\/revisions\/64913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}