Auto components maker Bharat Forge Ltd is planning to increase the production of renewable energy by 700 megawatts (MW) and its green steel production capacity to 100 percent from 30 percent now, as the firm is witnessing strong demand from the renewable and electric vehicle (EV) sectors.
"We launched our green steel in December last year, where one of our plants was converted to produce green steel. Today, around 30 percent capacity is green steel. By the end of this year, 100 percent of our capacity will be green steel," said Amit Kalyani, Deputy Managing Director at Bharat Forge.
Renewable energy and EV players are wanting to very quickly start buying green steel-based products for their consumption, he added.
Bharat Forge plans to make three lakh tonnes of green steel in the initially and then add to it at different locations, Kalyani said.
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At the Group level, Bharat Forge has so far invested for development of about 200 MW of renewable energy.
Green steel is steel manufactured without the use of fossil fuels. It is produced by using low-carbon energy sources, such as hydrogen, coal gasification or electricity rather than coal-fired plants.
Kalyani Group company, Saarloha Advanced Materials (Saarloha), had announced that green steel will be produced at its electric arc furnace plant in Pune, Maharashtra.
Saarloha Advanced Materials is a Kalyani group company that launched green steel under the brand Kalyani FeRRESTA on December 20.
The company has invested Rs 400 crore in solar and wind energy to power its electric arc furnaces.
"This is an opportunity not just for us, but for the entire auto components industry. We have taken the lead in producing and supplying green components. There will always be a small segment of the consumer market that will be willing to adapt and accept green steel, and we are trying to address that segment,” he said.
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Kalyani also said that the firm is investing in many decarbonisation initiatives.
"We will make large investments in decarbonisation. We are investing to develop an additional 700 MW of renewable energy. Obviously, there will be other investments as well as in plant and equipment," he said.
Kalyani also said the firm is well capitalised to make such investments in decarbonisation.
"We don't need to raise any capital. We don't need to invest separately. (We have a) strong balance sheet and almost no debt," he said.
On the upcoming Union Budget, Kalyani said that the government should ensure parity between input materials and finished goods and importing raw material vs importing finished goods.
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