There was “no silver bullet” for green transition in hard-to-abate sectors, including steel, Tata Steel global CEO and MD T V Narendran said on Saturday. He noted that it was a complex challenge and needed government’s support. 

The statement from the industry leader comes amid growing concerns across economies over emissions and need to increase usage of green energy. 

Steel was the most commonly-used metal in the world and one could not do without steel. Even for the transition, steel would be needed whether to hold solar panels up, windmills, storage and pipelines, he said, addressing a session at B20 Summit India 2023. 

“You need to find a solution, and there is no silver bullet for that.... India is alone going to add 100-150 million tonnes (of) steel capacity every decade. For the next few decades, you will have these hard-to-abate sectors growing, cement production is twice the amount of steel production globally...you need to find solutions which are technical, which don’t get solved by just finding another energy source,” he said. 

Supply chain in steel sector had been built over 100 years, so transitioning from coal to gas to hydrogen even from supply chain point was a very complex challenge, Mr Narendran, who is also the chairman of Manufacturing Council of industry body CII, said. 

“This journey is going to be significant and we should not underestimate that the industry can support part of the cost... cost of transition needs government support. You need customers to be willing to pay more for green products...it’s a long journey, and I think (the) journey has started in Europe and the US,” he said.