How much of Durgapur's secondary steel energy goes into DRI, and what does CBAM ask of those units?

Over 77%. TERI's 2023 study puts the belt's secondary steel units, around 100 of them, at 2.18 Mtoe a year, of which DRI kilns use 1.68 Mtoe and emit 5.82 of the cluster's 9.66 Mt CO2. For CBAM, sponge iron counts direct emissions only: kiln coal by mass balance, not the power bill.

The belt, industry by industry

• DRI: 1.68 Mtoe and 5.82 Mt CO2 a year.
• Steel melting in induction furnaces: 0.20 Mtoe, all electricity, and 1.80 Mt CO2.
• Ferro alloys: 0.20 Mtoe and 1.41 Mt. Rerolling mills: 0.07 Mtoe and 0.49 Mt.
• Wire drawing and foundries: 0.02 Mtoe each, 0.06 and 0.08 Mt.
• Thermal energy 1.78 Mtoe (82%), electricity 0.40 Mtoe (18%). Durgapur Steel Plant itself is not included.

Why power matters less for CBAM than for the cluster total

Electricity is 18% of the belt's energy, and the melt shops, which run entirely on it, account for 1.80 Mt CO2 on their own. CBAM leaves electricity out for iron and steel goods. A billet's CBAM figure is built mainly from the sponge iron and other inputs charged into the furnace, at their own figures, so a melt shop's EU buyers end up depending on the DRI kiln upstream. Buyers' product footprints and BRSR requests, on the other hand, count the power in full.

What a DRI unit needs ready for CBAM

1. Coal in, by weighbridge, with lab carbon content for each lot or a sampling plan.
2. Iron ore lumps or pellets in. Pellets are a precursor with their own figure.
3. Char or dolochar out, weighed, with its carbon content.
4. Sponge iron out, weighed, with its carbon content.
5. A verifier accredited for activity group V when your EU buyers ask for verified figures.

The savings TERI found

• DRI kilns: waste heat recovery for power, better coal combustion, partly replacing coal with gas, pellets instead of lump ore.
• Rerolling mills: continuous casting in place of a reheating furnace, PLC automation, furnace lining and recuperator care.
• Wire units: induction heating for annealing and zinc baths instead of furnace oil.

Worked example: one month's mass balance at a 100 tpd kiln

• Coal in: 3,000 t x 45% carbon = 1,350 t of carbon
• Dolochar out: 750 t x 25% carbon = 187.5 t of carbon
• Sponge iron out: 3,000 t x 0.2% carbon = 6 t of carbon
• Carbon emitted: 1,350 minus 187.5 minus 6 = 1,156.5 t; x 44/12 = 4,240.5 t CO2
• Per tonne of sponge iron: 4,240.5 / 3,000 = about 1.41 t CO2, plus any pellets at their own figure; the kiln's power adds nothing for CBAM

Example tonnages and carbon contents; use your own weighbridge records and lab results. Dolochar later burnt in a boiler is counted as fuel where it is burnt.

What Senseible does here

Senseible's CBAM Suite calculates the kiln's mass balance from your coal, ore, char and sponge iron quantities and their lab carbon contents, and Senseible's in-house review traces a sample of inputs to their weighbridge slips and invoices before your verifier sees them.

• CBAM for Indian exporters
• Waste heat power at a DRI plant
• Dolochar power and CO2
• Durgapur blast furnace steel

Sources: SAMEEEKSHA newsletter, December 2023, Profile of Durgapur secondary steel cluster (TERI), European Commission, Guidance on CBAM verification and accreditation (24 August 2026), sections 2.1, 2.2 and 9.2.3, Table 11

Last reviewed 2026-10-30. TERI's study dates from 2023. Recheck if the full Durgapur cluster report is published.