India initiates a comprehensive R&D roadmap for carbon capture marking a decisive step in CCUS for India’s net-zero path: ESG BROADCAST shares key takeaways
India has unveiled a landmark research and development roadmap to accelerate deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies, as part of its commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. The roadmap was formally launched by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India on December 9, 2025.
The CCUS roadmap, bravely aims first at the resistant sectors such as cement, power generation and steel, ones who are responsible for a significant share of India’s greenhouse-gas emissions. It proposes coordinated action and incentivises public-private collaboration, backed by a government-funded R&D investment pool under the ₹1 lakh-crore Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) funding framework.
This is not India’s first step on CCUS. Earlier in 2025, the government had announced five pilot testbeds for carbon capture and utilisation in the cement sector which in a longer run can be extended across industries. With the new roadmap, these testbeds will feed into a broader national strategy, providing shared infrastructure, skilled human capital, and regulatory standards for safe and effective deployment.
Implementation will likely follow a phase wise approach. The roadmap sets out immediate actions such as setting up demonstration projects and building regulatory guidelines. Medium-term actions include scaling infrastructure and logistic networks for CO₂ transport and storage, while long-term goals focus on integrating CCUS at scale in industrial operations. The government-backed funding and public-private partnerships are expected to ease burden on individual firms, offering a channel to deploy CCUS even for smaller or mid-size industries.
Strategic significance lies in how this roadmap reshapes India’s decarbonisation strategy. By embedding CCUS into national climate policy, India opens a practical path to curb emissions from heavy industries that are hard to decarbonise otherwise. Firms in cement, steel and power sectors must now evaluate CCUS readiness at the soonest. For investors and stakeholders, CCUS-linked projects could become key ESG signals for long-term viability. Finally, alignment with global best practices may help Indian industries remain competitive under rising international climate-and-sustainability standards.
