Tata Steel, Asia's oldest maker of the principal infrastructure alloy, intends to cover at least one-fourth of its energy needs through green energy by FY30, on its way to becoming carbon-neutral by 2045. Tata Steel's vice president for safety, health, and sustainability, Rajiv Mangal, told ET that the company wants to use a combination of hydrogen injections and renewable energy, such as solar and wind, at its factories nationwide.

Earlier this year, the business successfully introduced hydrogen into one of its blast furnaces in Jamshedpur, with the goal of lowering carbon emissions by 7-10% for each tonne of basic steel produced.

"We wanted to test hydrogen because hydrogen transportation is costly and risky. So, we wanted to be sure. Those fears are now behind us, so we are looking at either a 15-tonne per day hydrogen plant or someone else providing it to us," Mangal said.

"The price of hydrogen in the market will not be less than $5 to $6 per kg. To be commercially viable in a steel plant, we need it in the range of around $1. So, hydrogen technically can solve the problem, but commercially cannot," he said.

Steel production is one of the most carbon-intensive processes globally, accounting for as much as 7-9% of carbon emissions. Conversations around the industry increasingly consider how steel production can be made greener. This includes manufacturing steel through the usage of scrap and replacing conventional sources of energy with renewable power.