UltraTech partners with IIT Madras and BITS Pilani Goa for CCU pilot in cement sector

12^th May 2025: The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, on 11^th May 2025 announced five project grants focused on Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) test beds in the cement sector.

The project grants were presented by The Hon’ble Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mr Jitendra Singh, at an event held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on the occasion of National Technology Day.

UltraTech Cement Limited has been granted a project as an industrial partner for one of the test beds with IIT Madras and BITS Pilani K K Birla Goa  as the knowledge partners. The project grant was conferred by DST as part of the Academia-Industry Initiative for CO₂ capture in cement sector. The project shall run for a duration of three years and aims to develop indigenous CCU-based technology for decarbonisation of the Indian cement industry. As an industrial partner, UltraTech will contribute 25% of the total project cost and assist in the setup and implementation of a prototype at one of its cement manufacturing plants. The project aims to establish a carbon capture plant with 1 TPD capture capacity, integrated with an existing cement plant, as well as mineralisation and curing strategies to utilise the captured CO₂.

The cement industry, as a hard-to-abate sector, has a vital role to play in India’s decarbonisation strategy. CCU has emerged as a key technology enabler globally towards accelerating industrial decarbonisation. The grant of test beds marks a significant milestone in leveraging the public-private partnership model to invest in the development of advanced decarbonisation technologies towards achieving India’s goal of Net Zero by 2070. It is also a key step towards the development of indigenous cutting-edge CCU technologies and boosting India’s efforts for a Viksit Bharat.