What is the energy use and CO2 of the Giridih secondary steel cluster in Jharkhand?
TERI's May 2024 profile puts Giridih's steel units at 1.49 million t of coal and 1,095 million kWh a year, about 0.88 million toe, and 3.93 million t CO2. Sponge iron is half of it: 1.97 million t CO2 from 0.75 million t of DRI.
What the cluster makes
- About 30 steel units, mostly on Tundi Road. TERI's production table: DRI 7,50,000 t, pig iron 6,45,000 t, steel melting 6,00,000 t, ferro alloys 37,400 t, re-rolling, wire and others 5,86,800 t.
- Known for Fe 550 and Fe 600 TMT bars; also billets, wire rod, binding and barbed wire, nails.
- Most units take DVC power for its reliability and lower tariff.
CO2 by unit type
- DRI: 1.05 million t of coal and 90 million kWh, 1.97 million t CO2.
- Pig iron: 0.39 million t of coal and coke, 1.17 million t CO2.
- Steel melting: 720 million kWh, 0.51 million t CO2.
- Ferro alloys: 180 million kWh, 0.21 million t CO2.
Giridih kilns burn more coal per tonne
1.05 million t of coal for 0.75 million t of DRI is 1.4 t a tonne. TERI's Ballari study puts sponge iron at 1.0 to 1.2 t. Some of the gap is coal quality, so compare heat per tonne using your coal's GCV, but a kiln at 1.4 t has room to save.
What TERI says would help
- Waste heat power: a 2 x 100 tpd DRI plant could generate about 4 MW.
- Better kiln lining: about 5 kg of coal saved per tonne.
- Recuperators on reheating furnaces: up to 25% less fuel.
- Continuous casting with direct rolling in place of reheating, and IE3 or IE4 motors: about 10% of motor power.
CO2 per tonne by unit type (from the profile)
- DRI: 1.97 million t CO2 / 0.75 million t = 2.6 t CO2 per tonne
- Pig iron: 1.17 / 0.645 = 1.8 t CO2 per tonne
- Steel melting: 0.51 / 0.60 = 0.85 t CO2 per tonne (1,200 kWh a tonne)
- Ferro alloys: 0.21 / 0.0374 = 5.6 t CO2 per tonne
- Cluster: 3.93 / 2.62 = 1.5 t CO2 per tonne of all products
From TERI's May 2024 Giridih profile. The cluster average adds stages that feed each other, so use your own unit type.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads coal invoices and DVC bills into monthly records you can divide by tonnes; it has no built-in coke factor. The CBAM pages show what a DRI or billet figure means for an EU buyer.
Sources: TERI, Cluster profile: Giridih secondary steel cluster (May 2024), TERI, In-depth study: Iron and steel industries in Ballari cluster (2025), CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector (grid factor 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh, FY 2025-26), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel emission factors)
Last reviewed 2026-10-31.