In the Jaipur foundry profile of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), what do its typical cupola and induction foundries emit per tonne of saleable castings, in carbon dioxide (CO2)?
On TERI's typical units and today's factors, a cupola foundry comes to about 0.40 to 0.43 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of saleable castings and an induction foundry about 0.76 to 0.80. The induction rows use 1,111 to 1,167 kilowatt hours (kWh) a saleable tonne, above the 600 to 750 the profile gives per tonne melted.
The four typical units
- Cupola, 600 tonnes of saleable castings a year: 20,000 kWh and 80 tonnes of coke; 56 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe); energy bill rupees (Rs) 2.9 million.
- Cupola, 1,800 tonnes: 85,000 kWh and 220 tonnes of coke; 156 toe; Rs 8.2 million.
- Induction, 1,800 tonnes: 2,000,000 kWh and 3 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); 176 toe; Rs 15.8 million.
- Induction, 6,000 tonnes: 7,000,000 kWh and 15 tonnes of LPG; 621 toe; Rs 55.6 million.
Per tonne of saleable castings
- Cupola: 80,000 kg of coke / 600 t = 133 kg a tonne; 220,000 / 1,800 = 122 kg a tonne, both per tonne of saleable castings. The profile's 100 to 150 kg of coke is per tonne of molten metal, a different basis, so the two do not compare directly. Metal melted exceeds castings shipped, so per tonne melted the rows would be lower, and at typical yields could fall below 100.
- Induction: 2,000,000 / 1,800 = 1,111 kWh a tonne; 7,000,000 / 6,000 = 1,167 kWh a tonne, again per saleable tonne. The profile gives 600 to 750 kWh per tonne for the melting furnace, per tonne melted.
- The profile says melting is about 75 to 80% of a foundry's energy, which is about 830 to 930 kWh of the 1,111 to 1,167. The rows and the share can agree because runners, risers and rejects are remelted. If, as my assumption and not the profile's, 60 to 75% of the metal melted ships as castings, melting takes about 800 to 1,250 kWh per saleable tonne, and the 830 to 930 sits inside that.
The same units at today's factors
- Cupola 600 t: 80 x 3.017 = 241.4 t from coke, plus 20,000 x 0.675 = 13.5 t from power. 254.9 t, or 0.425 t per tonne.
- Cupola 1,800 t: 663.8 + 57.4 = 721.2 t, or 0.401 t per tonne.
- Induction 1,800 t: 2,000,000 x 0.675 = 1,350 t, plus 3 x 2.98 = 8.9 t from LPG. 1,358.9 t, or 0.755 t per tonne.
- Induction 6,000 t: 4,725 + 44.7 = 4,769.7 t, or 0.795 t per tonne.
How this fits the per-tonne-melted view
Our page on Jaipur export castings counts one tonne of molten iron: 0.378 t from a cupola at 125 kg of coke, 0.456 t from induction at 675 kWh, which are close. Here the basis is TERI's typical units per saleable tonne, so the induction rows sit above the melting range for the reason in our page on induction foundry kWh per tonne by size: you melt far more than you ship. Both are true on their own basis. Your own invoices over your own good tonnes settle which one you are.
Induction foundry, 6,000 tonnes a year
- Power: 7,000,000 kWh x 0.675 = 4,725,000 kg = 4,725 t
- LPG: 15 t x 2.98 = 44.7 t
- Total: 4,725 + 44.7 = 4,769.7 t
- Per tonne of saleable castings: 4,769.7 / 6,000 = 0.795 t
TERI's typical-unit table (profile year 2016) with the grid factor for financial year (FY) 2025-26 from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Coke at the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defaults for coke oven coke, 28.2 gigajoules a tonne x 107 kg per gigajoule, about 3.017 kg per kg; LPG 47.3 x 63.1, about 2.98 kg per kg. Estimates.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records, so a year of power, diesel and LPG bills gives you your own totals to set beside these. It does not measure boilers or read a profile report, and it is not a third-party verifier.
Sources: TERI, Cluster profile: Jaipur foundries (SAMEEEKSHA, 2016), 2006 IPCC Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy, Chapter 1 Table 1.2 and Chapter 2 Table 2.2, CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0 (FY 2025-26 grid factor)
Last reviewed 2026-11-05. Typical units are TERI's 2016 examples. The 60 to 75% melt yield is my assumption, not the profile's. The cupola and induction comparison depends on yield and unit mix, so use your own figures.