SAIL enters deal with Chennai-based Ram Charan for managing emissions

Agreement is for multiple solutions like converting emissions to value-added products and fuel

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) has made a deal with Chennai-based Ram Charan Company for managing greenhouse gas emissions at the state-run company’s plants in Durgapur, Bokaro, and Burnpur, said a source.

SAIL is in advanced talks with Ram Charan, in which US-based TFCC International has a 46 per cent stake, for a similar tie-up to manage emissions at its Rourkela unit.

The agreement is for multiple solutions, including converting emissions to value-added products and fuel with no residue left behind. A SAIL official confirmed the agreement, but did not specify the investment required.

"We are in the process of completing a tie-up with SAIL. This will be a huge boost in achieving SAIL's carbon-neutral goals. The tie-up will be with all the five major steel plants of the company," said Kaushik Palicha, owner of Ram Charan. “Our state-of-the-art technology will help in converting greenhouse gas emissions into value-added products and fuel.”

The two sides have an existing agreement for SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant. That agreement was on a trial basis for managing emissions of 25 tonnes per day (tpd). The Bhilai tie-up was expected to see investments worth Rs 6,000 crore.

According to industry estimates, investments for emissions management at the plants may come to around Rs 20,000 crore.

SAIL is working to reduce carbon emissions and increase the share of renewable/non-conventional energy by 2030 to be net zero in emissions by 2070, according to its annual report.

Ram Charan came into the limelight when TFCC International, a fund based in the United States, announced an investment of $4.14 billion to acquire a 46 per cent stake in the company in December 2021.

"Ram Charan started their business as a chemical distribution company and has moved to research based on managing end-of-life chemicals, given the harm it causes the environment," said a statement then.

Ram Charan started the research in 2016 and proceeded to develop products that can process large quantities of unsegregated waste. “These techniques lead to an understanding of new age technologies, which come with their own challenges and therefore end product responsibility becomes a huge challenge, and an opportunity for Ram Charan’s new business, under the brand Entity 1,” said the statement.