DST establishes five CCU pilot projects to decarbonise cement sector

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) announces a ground-breaking national initiative: five Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) testbeds in the cement industry, constituting a first-of-its-kind research and innovation cluster to tackle industrial carbon emissions.

This is a crucial step towards India’s Climate Action for promoting National Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets and achieving net zero decarbonisation pathways for Industry Transition, as well as the government’s goal of achieving a carbon-neutral economy by 2070.

Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) is critical in hard-to-abate industries such as cement, steel, power, oil and natural gas, chemicals and fertilisers for reducing emissions by capturing carbon dioxide from industrial processes and converting it into value-added products such as synthetic fuels, urea, soda, ash, chemicals, food grade CO2, or concrete aggregates.  CCU provides a practical road for these difficult-to-decarbonize businesses to reduce their carbon footprint and advance towards Net Zero Goals while continuing to operate efficiently.  DST has made significant progress in promoting R&D in the CCUS sector.

Concrete is crucial to India’s economy, and the cement industry, as one of the most difficult-to-abate sectors, is committed to meeting national decarbonisation targets. New technologies to reduce the carbon intensity of the cement business would play an important role in meeting national net zero ambitions.

Recognising the vital need to decarbonise the cement business, the Department’s Energy and Sustainable Technology (CEST) Division issued a unique request for ideas from academia-industry consortiums for the deployment of Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) in the cement sector. This Special Call aimed to build and deploy innovative CCU test beds in the cement sector, with a focus on developing a CO2 capture + CO2 utilisation integrated unit in an industrial setting using an innovative Public Private Partnership (PPP) finance mechanism.

As a one-of-a-kind initiative in India, DST has approved the establishment of five CCU testbeds for translational R&D, to be established through Academia-Industry collaboration under this significant DST initiative in PPP mode, engaging premier research laboratories as knowledge partners and top cement companies as industry partners.

On the occasion of National Technology Day celebrations, on the 11th of May 2025, the 5 CCU Cement Test beds were announced and grants were handed over to the Test bed teams by the Chief Guest, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State for PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh, in the presence of Secretary DST Prof. Abhay Karandika.

The five testbeds are more than just academic studies; they are collaborative industrial pilot projects that bring together India’s foremost research institutions and cement producers through a novel Public-Private Partnership (PPP) approach. Each testbed focusses on a distinct aspect of CCU, ranging from advanced catalysis to vacuum-based gas separation.

The results of this innovative initiative will not only demonstrate pathways to decarbonisation towards Net zero goals via the CCU route in the cement sector, but will also serve as a critical confidence-building measure for potential stakeholders to adopt the deployed CCU technology for further scaling up and commercialisation.

It is hoped that continuous research and innovation under these test beds will result in the development of innovative catalysts, materials, electrolyser technology, reactors, and electronics, lowering the cost of Green Cement through the deployment of CCU technology in the cement sector.

Secretary DBT Dr Rajesh Gokhale, Dr Ajai Choudhary, Co-Founder HCL, Dr. Rajesh Pathak, Secretary, TDB, Dr Anita Gupta Head CEST, DST and Dr Neelima Alam, Associate Head, DST were also present at the programme organised at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.

Source: https://dst.gov.in/india-launches-first-cluster-ccu-testbeds-academia-industry-collaboration-cement-industry#:~:text=As%20a%20unique%20initiative%20and%20one%20of%20its,and%20top%20Cement%20companies%20as%20the%20industry%20partner.