Vedanta's iron ore and steel business cuts carbon emissions by 2.5 million tonnes

Vedanta group's iron ore mining and steel business has reduced, avoided or sequestered nearly 2.5 million tonne of carbon emissions in the last five years through a range of sustainability initiatives across operations, the company said on Thursday.

The moves, spanning ecosystem restoration, renewable energy adoption and cleaner industrial practices, form part of Vedanta's broader push to decarbonise heavy industry and align with national and global climate goals.

On World Environment Day, Vedanta Iron And Steel Ltd (VISL), reaffirmed its commitment to building a lower-carbon future, showcasing how a traditional mining and metals enterprise can evolve into a leader in sustainable practices.

At the heart of VISL's decarbonisation journey is the adoption of cleaner technologies. Electric passenger vehicles, wheel loaders, and forklifts now power its operations, saving nearly 800 kilolitres of diesel annually and cutting greenhouse gas emissions significantly.

Equally transformative is the company's focus on sustainable logistics. In FY26 alone, VISL's barge fleet operations were equivalent to eliminating an estimated 2.1 lakh truck trips, helping conserve 10.8 million litres of diesel, corresponding to a reduction of nearly 28,900 tonne of CO2 emissions (tCO2e), - an impact comparable to offsetting the annual electricity-related carbon footprint of a small to mid-sized town.

Further strengthening its clean energy portfolio, VISL generates a cumulative 100 MW of waste heat recovery power through operations at its pig iron plant in Amona, Goa, and at its Bokaro steel plant.

This low carbon power facility has led to avoiding 2.4 MT of CO2, exemplifying the company's commitment to circular energy use and resource efficiency.

VISL's environmental stewardship extends beyond operations into ecological restoration. The Sanquelim Reclaimed Mine in Goa, spanning over 100 hectares, is home to 750,000 trees that sequester 16,000 tonne of CO2 annually.

Over three decades, this reclaimed landscape has absorbed nearly 480,000 tonne of CO2, equivalent to taking 100,000 cars off the road for a year.

Complementing this, VISL has developed Miyawaki forests at Amona (Goa) and Bokaro (Jharkhand), planting over 75,000 trees as part of the project, alongside three lakh trees planted under the regular afforestation drives to enhance biodiversity.

Within its steel operations, VISL's 1.5 million tonne integrated steel plant at Bokaro is transitioning to piped natural gas through a partnership with Indian Oil Corporation Limited, replacing LPG and will eventually reduce emissions by 1,500 tonne of CO2 equivalent annually.

"The transition to a sustainable future requires a fundamental rethinking of how industries move materials, consume energy and interact with the environment.

"At VISL, we are driving this transformation through cleaner logistics, RE, integrating EVs, resource efficiency and ecological restoration. Our ambition is to leverage the sustainability interventions not only for driving of long-term value creation, but also for a 'greener' future," Pankaj Kumar Sharma, CEO, VISL said.