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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

The Iron Ore Revolution

Gadchiroli transforms from ‘Red Corridor’ to steel hub Gadchiroli: Once synonymous with the shadow of the Naxal insurgency, Gadchiroli is undergoing an unprecedented and rapid transformation, poised to emerge as a powerhouse of the Indian steel industry and a model for socio-economic development. With security issues largely contained, the district is now witnessing a massive Rs 3 lakh crore investment pipeline, signaling a monumental shift from conflict to commerce. District Collector...

The Iron Ore Revolution

Gadchiroli transforms from ‘Red Corridor’ to steel hub Gadchiroli: Once synonymous with the shadow of the Naxal insurgency, Gadchiroli is undergoing an unprecedented and rapid transformation, poised to emerge as a powerhouse of the Indian steel industry and a model for socio-economic development. With security issues largely contained, the district is now witnessing a massive Rs 3 lakh crore investment pipeline, signaling a monumental shift from conflict to commerce. District Collector Avishyant Panda detailed the comprehensive development agenda, underscoring that the focus has squarely moved to building world-class industry and infrastructure, matched by crucial human resource development. The heart of this transformation is the colossal investment in steel production, leveraging the district’s rich iron ore deposits. The combined efforts of major industrial players are set to make Gadchiroli a steel manufacturing giant. JSW Steel is setting up what is projected to be the world’s biggest single-location steel plant, with a massive capacity of 25 MT (Million Tonnes). Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd. has already commenced operations, establishing a 10 MT steel plant at Konsari, while Surjagadh Ispat is adding to the capacity with a committed 5 MT plant. The total planned production capacity of 40 MT in the coming years will not only generate significant wealth from the district’s natural resources but also anchor a vast auxiliary industrial ecosystem. “The district that was once being ruled with the barrels of a gun is now rapidly transforming into an advanced hub that thrives on the riches gained from the iron ore,” Collector Panda asserted. Infrastructure Leap Crucial to sustaining this industrial boom is a massive upgrade in connectivity, which has long been a major bottleneck. The long-awaited Railway link is soon expected to bring Gadchiroli onto the national rail map, drastically reducing logistics costs and time for the heavy steel industry. The district administration has already identified three locations for the construction of an airport. A final clearance and nod from the Ministry of Aviation is anticipated soon for one of these sites, which will facilitate rapid movement of VVIPs, critical goods, and eventually, commercial traffic. Digital Integration To ensure no corner of this vast district (which is comparable in size to the state of Nagaland) is left behind, a massive digital push has been executed. Mobile towers have been erected across all 1,550 hamlets in over 450 gram panchayats, with an additional 550 towers set up along key roads, ensuring robust communication and online service delivery. Skilled Manpower While security and infrastructure challenges are being systematically resolved, the single biggest issue that remains is the availability of skilled manpower to service the highly technical steel and allied industries. Recognizing that human capital is the critical factor for sustaining the district’s monumental industrial investment, Gondwana University, Gadchiroli, has embarked on an ambitious global partnership to cultivate a highly skilled local workforce. The university, in collaboration with the private sector and a leading international institution, is transforming its academic focus to directly align with the demands of the emerging Steel Hub of India. The linchpin of this strategy is the formation of a University Institute of Technology (UIT) in Gadchiroli. This institute, established with the full financial backing and corporate social responsibility commitment from Lloyds Metals and Energy Ltd, is primarily dedicated to providing free diploma-level technical education to tribal and economically disadvantaged students from the district’s most remote areas. A landmark agreement has been signed with Curtin University, Australia, a globally renowned institution particularly strong in mining studies. This tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gondwana University and Lloyds Metals & Energy Ltd aims to combine global academic rigour with local employment opportunity. The new UIT is currently offering three specialized, industry-relevant diploma courses: Mining Technology, Steel Technology, and Computer Science with Mining Applications. Each stream is designed to enroll 30 students in its initial phase, with the curriculum being jointly developed by the academic and industry partners to ensure the training is both theoretically sound and commercially applicable. Formation of District Transformation Committee (DTC) provides a crucial institutional framework for coordinating the implementation of key central and state schemes, specifically focusing on skill development, education, and health to fast-track the district’s comprehensive development. New Horizons The developmental model is deliberately holistic, encompassing agriculture and social infrastructure. Progressive farmers, with active support from the district administration, are experimenting with high-value crops like Water Chestnut and Strawberry, moving beyond traditional paddy farming to explore profitable agricultural diversification. The Ekal Training Centres are undertaking a unique program aimed at empowering Gram Sabhas (Village Councils) to enhance and sustainably manage forest produce, ensuring that the tribal populace receives the maximum benefit from their natural wealth. Social Infrastructure Upgrade The education and health infrastructure is seeing a significant overhaul. New hospitals are being established in the remotest areas, with much of the funding and support coming directly from the industries setting up base in the region, creating a true public-private partnership for social good. Gadchiroli’s story is no longer one of adversity, but a vibrant narrative of economic resurgence, connectivity, and development. The collective focus on capitalizing on its mineral wealth while simultaneously nurturing its people’s skills and social well-being marks the dawn of a new, industrial era for this once-neglected frontier.

India needs a plan to decarbonise its buildings and the construction industry

construction industry

Given the contribution of embodied carbon to the overall emissions by India’s building construction industry, the country needs to develop a plan to decarbonise building and have targets for GHG emission reduction.


While there are limited standards and reporting frameworks for addressing embodied carbon even in developed markets because the emphasis is on operational emissions, there is an urgent need to innovate and transition to low carbon emitting technologies and construction methods to be able to tackle embodied carbon as there is to develop standards and reporting methods. India has a very rudimentary framework for management of operational carbon metrics and needs to urgently develop and implement building performance management and measurement tools, to achieve its coveted objective of net-zero by 2070.


To overcome this while traditional asset backed lending models may of course be explored where the borrowers are credit worthy and where asset valuations support, India could also explore an off-balance sheet model that helps shift energy efficiency projects from being an expensed asset that must be procured and maintained (and will depreciate) to one that is an operating expense. The extent of Government support by way of grants and subsidised funding to support decarbonisation of select asset classes such as housing, is to be further assessed. There may also be innovative models such as the one used by the National Wealth Fund, UK where sovereign guarantees are used to derisk exposure to private borrowers and can help attract private capital into areas seen as risky.


This has a twofold benefit: it helps crowd in private capital and take on risks at a pricing which otherwise would not be possible and it helps develop and test the market so with time, borrowers would be able to borrow at attractive pricing without the need for a sovereign guarantee.


Though India has low per capita annual emissions at 1.8 tons of CO2e compared to the USA at 14.7 and China at 7.6 in part thanks to being among the most populous countries, in absolute terms, it is the third-largest emitter country globally and hence has a central role to play in any global strategy to mitigate GHG emissions.


In India, the real estate and construction sectors account for 32 percent of total national GHG emissions, covering both operational and embodied carbon with buildings projected to emit upto 7x more carbon by 2050 (against to 2005 levels).


Moreover, the situation with respect to the building construction in India is different from the UK where 80 percent of buildings that will exist in 2050 have already been built and hence the emphasis is on improving energy efficiency of existing stock to decarbonise the sector.


In India it is estimated that operational emissions (emissions by virtue of using / operating a building) contribute to 60% of overall emissions from the built environment with 40% contribution from embodied emissions.


As per a study, 50–70 percent of embodied carbon emissions is before completion. Of this, 85–90 percent of embodied emissions are from manufacturing, 7–10% from transportation and 3–5% during construction.


While India has taken steps towards reducing operational emissions by establishing the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), this entity has already completed energy efficiency projects in over 10K+ buildings across India and has effected savings in the 30-50% range.


There is however clearly much more to be done both in terms of improving the manufacturing processes to use low carbon emitting technology and materials and in driving nation-wide efforts to deliver decarbonisation. For any decarbonising drive to succeed in India, domestic properties / homes would need to be the focus as these constitute 75% of buildings; commercial buildings account for roughly 1.2bn. sq.ft.. Further research effort may be needed to determine the spend on improving energy efficiency of buildings, the nature of interventions and a financing structure which can ensure that retrofits are viable and property owners are incentivised to invest in these measures.


(The author is a senior banker and sustainable finance expert of Indian origin based out of UK. Views are personal)

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