Embodied carbon in India infrastructure

The construction industry stands at a critical juncture in the global fight against climate change, particularly in the developing nations such as India, where rapid urbanisation and infrastructure development are reshaping the landscape.

With more than USD 1,900 BN earmarked for projects in energy, transportation, social and industrial infrastructure, it becomes indisputable to take actions now for minimizing embodied carbon being locked into these long-term assets. Failure to do so will compromise not only the national climate targets but also global efforts to limit temperature rise and mitigate the impacts of climate change from the infrastructure sector.

This report delves deep into the importance of managing embodied carbon within the Indian construction sector. It establishes the potential share of Indian construction sector in remaining carbon budget, magnitude of embodied emissions tied to infrastructure projects, revealing the critical need for policies, guidelines, codes and standards that mandate low-carbon approaches across the industry.

It also examines a range of emission reduction strategies and pathways for cement and steel manufacturing (the major contributors for embodied carbon emission on any project) that can be adopted to minimize the environmental footprint of India’s burgeoning infrastructure and associated digital interventions required further for scalability and efficiency.