India's Ministry of Steel amends Green Steel Certificate validity rules

The Ministry of Steel issued a corrigendum on April 6, 2026 to its Green Steel Classification notification, allowing provisional extension of Green Steel Certificate validity until June of the following financial year. The change gives Indian steel producers a bridge period to align MRV verification with financial reporting while preserving certification integrity.

Published in the Gazette of India on April 6, 2026, the Ministry of Steel's corrigendum modifies its December 2024 "Green Steel Classification" notification to refine issuance and validity of Green Steel Certificates. Under updated Article 12, certificates remain valid on an annual financial-year basis, but a new mechanism allows provisional extension until June of the following financial year for units that have already applied for the succeeding year's certification and submitted required data. The National Institute of Secondary Steel Technology (NISST) is the implementing body authorised to grant these extensions.

The rules are significant for India's hard-to-abate steel sector, where low-carbon transition involves Green Hydrogen injection or Electric Arc Furnace optimisation. Steel producers seeking continuity of green-rated status are directly affected, as are international buyers and domestic infrastructure projects with green-procurement mandates that depend on certificate stability for supply-chain transparency. A claw-back provision retrospectively cancels the provisional extension from March 31 of the preceding year if a unit fails to qualify or is downgraded, preserving the integrity of the Green Steel brand and its associated preferential market access.

Steel producers should apply early for the succeeding year's certification and submit required data to qualify for the provisional extension until June, using the roughly 180-day window to synchronise environmental reporting with financial auditing. Units must maintain genuine decarbonisation performance given the retrospective claw-back from March 31 for downgrades. NISST will submit monthly consolidated reports justifying each extension. Producers entering the 2026-27 cycle should comply with the NISST-managed MRV framework, now a prerequisite for capitalising on global demand for low-carbon steel.

Key figure — Gazette corrigendum date: April 6, 2026