India's carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) ecosystem is moving from laboratory research and pilot projects towards demonstration and commercial deployment. However, the economics of scaling the technology remains a challenge. Speakers at the 3rd Edition of India Bioenergy & Tech Expo said the country will need lower capture costs, sustained financing, infrastructure, regulatory support and viable markets for captured carbon.
The discussion highlighted projects already demonstrating CCUS across sectors, while underscoring the challenge of scaling up individual pilots into commercially viable, replicable systems. The country is working towards handling around 5–7 million tonnes of captured CO₂ per annum, making the transition from pilot projects to larger-scale deployment increasingly important.
The cement sector has already reduced its carbon intensity through lower limestone consumption, energy efficiency and the use of industrial waste. However, a significant share of its emissions comes from the production process itself. Mahendra Singhi, MD and CEO, Dalmia Cement, said around 45–50 per cent of the sector's CO₂ emissions arise from the chemical reaction involved when limestone is converted into clinker, making carbon capture important for deeper decarbonisation.
Singhi said the additional cost of capturing carbon cannot simply be passed on to consumers through higher prices for green cement. "We would like to go for utilisation and then the product which comes out of CCU that should pay for it," he added, pointing to carbon-derived products and carbon credits as potential sources of revenue.
The economics of capture have improved significantly. According to Singhi, costs that stood at around USD 50–70 per tonne four to five years ago have fallen to USD 20–30 per tonne. He added that the industry is targeting a further reduction to around USD 15 per tonne by 2032-33, with economies of scale expected to help bring down costs.
From Capture To Utilisation
The power sector provides another example of how India's CCUS efforts are moving beyond technology development towards utilisation. Sujay Karmakar, Executive Director, NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA), said applications being developed include methanol, ethanol, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), urea and carbonated construction materials. "At a larger scale, it can compete with the existing market value," Karmakar said, referring to the potential of CO₂ utilisation projects to become economically viable at commercial scale.
Karmakar also pointed to regulatory gaps that could become more significant as CCUS expands, particularly around CO₂ pipeline pressure standards and right-of-way. He said existing land-acquisition provisions do not specifically address CO₂ pipelines.
The Scale-up Challenge
Moving from a successful pilot to a commercial plant can take considerable time. Sandeep Jain, Co-chair – CCUS Forum, IFGE and VP, ESG Strategy & Alliances, LanzaTech, said the company's journey from laboratory, pilot and demonstration stages to its first commercial plant showed the time required to scale new technologies.
"An important learning from this has been that there has to be patience," Jain said, highlighting the need for sustained funding and further development as technologies move from demonstration to commercial deployment. He said additional funding may also be required to modify technologies and develop them into commercially viable equipment. Differences in investor priorities and regional ecosystems can affect whether projects successfully scale.
Bridging The 'Valley Of Death'
Sangeeta Kasture, Scientist G and Head, Biomanufacturing Directorate, Department of Biotechnology, said technologies need to progress sequentially from proof of concept and laboratory development to pilot and commercial scale, with different government funding instruments supporting different stages.
Kasture also stressed the importance of collaboration between government, research institutions and industry as technologies move towards larger-scale deployment. "There are different, as I said, every technology has their own challenges and we need to go step by step," she said.
The transition between technology development and commercialisation is often described as the 'Valley of Death,' where technologies that have demonstrated technical potential struggle to secure the capital required for wider deployment. Kasture said collaboration would become particularly important at the pilot stage, while government-backed platforms and funding mechanisms could help bridge the gap.
Tailored Solutions
The requirements for carbon capture also vary across industrial and bioenergy pathways, depending on the concentration and composition of CO₂ streams. Amit Bansiwal, Chief Scientist and Chair of Environmental Materials and Sustainable Systems, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), said bioenergy pathways require customised and modular solutions because CO₂ concentrations can vary significantly across fermentation, biogas, gasification, pyrolysis and combustion processes.
Smaller, modular systems could be particularly important for bioenergy applications because these facilities typically operate at a smaller scale than large industrial plants. " So modularity is important in this, in this particular domain," he added. Projects also need comprehensive techno-economic analysis and life-cycle assessments covering biomass sourcing, processing, capture, compression, transportation and storage or utilisation.
Reducing the energy penalty associated with capture is another priority. Bansiwal pointed to work on lower-cost absorbers, new capture molecules and electrically heated systems that could potentially use solar energy to reduce both the energy footprint and the cost of CCUS.
Carbon Capture As A Service
Technology developers are also exploring business models that could reduce the financial burden on industrial emitters. Yash Agarwal, CEO and Co-founder, Carbonetics, said the industry is developing carbon-capture-as-a-service models under which the service provider sets up and operates the capture facility rather than requiring the emitter to undertake the entire project itself. "We are offering carbon capture as a service which allows the emitters to be completely risk-free," he said.
Agarwal said existing utilisation pathways, including food-grade CO₂, could help projects establish the commercial viability of capture technologies while newer applications develop, reflecting the need for different solutions across industrial sectors such as power, steel, cement and oil and gas/LNG.
India's CCUS challenge is not whether carbon capture can be demonstrated, but whether it can be deployed repeatedly at a commercially viable cost. The cost reductions indicate that capture technologies are becoming more competitive, although further reductions will be needed for wider deployment. The ability to bring together financing, lower-cost technologies, carbon markets, infrastructure and sector-specific solutions will determine how effectively its early pilots can translate into larger-scale CCUS deployment.