Mumbai: Shri Pradip Kumar Das, Chairman & Managing Director of the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), took the stage today at India Steelex 2025 in Mumbai to highlight the critical role of decarbonization in making India’s steel industry a global powerhouse.
Chairing the session on “Financial Instruments: Driving Make-in-India Steel Globally,” CMD Shri Das underscored that achieving profitable sustainability rests on a strategic, multi-pronged approach.
“Green steel won’t come from a single solution,” Shri Das stated, identifying four key drivers for a sustainable future: renewable energy, green hydrogen, electric-arc furnaces with scrap, and carbon capture supported by a clear taxonomy. He emphasized that a comprehensive Green Taxonomy is essential to provide statutory clarity, transparent benchmarks, and build investor confidence in new technologies like Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS).
Shri Das highlighted India’s impressive clean energy growth, noting the addition of ~22 GW of renewable capacity in just the first five months of the current fiscal year. This has pushed India’s total renewable capacity to ~242 GW, with non-fossil sources now accounting for approximately 50% of the nation’s power generation. He also praised Maharashtra’s leadership in renewables and government initiatives such as PM-KUSUM, which is solarizing agriculture and strengthening the country’s renewable energy base.
Reiterating IREDA’s governance-led growth model, Shri Das detailed the company’s strong track record, having financed over ₹1.63 lakh crore in 38 years with a remarkably low cumulative write-off of only ~₹135 crore. This performance, he said, demonstrates the company’s robust governance and recovery standards. He emphasized IREDA’s mandate to de-risk essential but emerging sectors, including green hydrogen, energy storage, and solar manufacturing, to ensure India can not only adopt but also manufacture and export these critical technologies.
He concluded his address by stressing the need for “Make-in-India” steel to be globally recognized for both its volume and sustainability. To achieve this, he called for the strategic use of financial instruments such as concessional and blended finance, green bonds, ESG-linked debt, and green public procurement.
“Make-in-India steel must shine globally—not only for volume, but for quality and sustainability,” CMD Shri Das affirmed, reinforcing IREDA’s commitment to financing India’s green transition.