Tata Steel opens its first scrap-based electric arc furnace in Ludhiana

Tata Steel's plant in Ludhiana

Metals giant Tata Steel on March 20 commissioned its first scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF) in India in Punjab's Ludhiana to produce "green" steel.

The company has invested around Rs 3,200 crore in the 750,000 tonne facility, which was inaugurated by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran and  Tata Steel managing director and CEO TV Narendran.

"As India accelerates its transition towards a climate-resilient future, sustainability has become a national imperative - one that demands urgent, collective action. Tata Steel’s Ludhiana electric arc furnace reflects Tata Group’s long-term commitment to building a greener, more resilient industrial future," Chandrasekaran said.

With the scrap-based EAF, the steel produced in this facility will have a carbon dioxide emissions of 0.3 tonne per tonne of steel, which aligns the company's goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2045, Tata Steel said in a release.

The government recently notified the taxonomy for green steel in India, defining it as carbon emissions of less than 2.2 tonne per tonne of finished steel.

While Tata Steel has multiple conventional blast furnace-based steelmaking facilities in India and overseas, the company has started to move towards EAFs in countries such as the UK. In UK, it is investing £1.2 billion towards a scrap-based EAF facility in Port Talbot, Wales. The UK government is subsidising around £500 million towards the project.

In the Netherlands, the company has stated its intention to transform its IJmuiden blast furnaces towards green steel manufacturing, through either EAFs, or direct-reduced iron (DRI)-based steelmaking.