Recently during India Steelex 2025 and the 37th National Conference on “Profitable Sustainability – Green Steel: A Future Ecosystem” at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, the Chairman & Managing Director of Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA), Pradip Kumar Das chaired the session on “Financial Instruments: Driving Make-in-India Steel Globally.”
Addressing policymakers, industry leaders, and financiers, Das underlined that India’s global competitiveness depends on rapid and well-governed decarbonisation. He said, “Green steel will not come from one solution; it rests on four drivers – renewable energy, green hydrogen, electric-arc furnaces with scrap, and carbon capture supported by a clear taxonomy.” He underscored that the Green Taxonomy is key to providing statutory clarity, transparent benchmarks and investor confidence – guiding technologies such as CCUS and efficiency upgrades.
Highlighting India’s clean-energy momentum, Das noted that ~242 GW of renewable capacity with ~ 50% non-fossil share of power generation (as of August 2025) and ~22 GW was added in just five months of this fiscal. He commended Maharashtra’s leadership in renewables and initiatives like PM-KUSUM for solarising agriculture and deepening the RE base. He added that Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) are essential to sustain demand, and that ~80% of India’s RE capacity is developed by private players, underscoring the need to crowd-in capital at scale.
Reiterating IREDA’s governance-led growth and de-risking mandate, Das said that the company has financed over `1.63 lakh crore in 38 years, with cumulative write-offs of only ~`135 crore, underscoring strong governance and recovery standards. He added, “We have the responsibility to de-risk essential but emerging sectors – from green hydrogen to storage and solar manufacturing – so India can not only adopt but manufacture and export these technologies.”
