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

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/durgapur-secondary-steel-cluster-dri-carbon

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](https://senseible.earth/cbam)
- [Waste heat power at a DRI plant](https://senseible.earth/answers/barbil-sponge-iron-plant-waste-heat-power)
- [Dolochar power and CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/raigarh-sponge-iron-dolochar-power-co2)
- [Durgapur blast furnace steel](https://senseible.earth/answers/durgapur-steel-products-cbam-figure)

Sources: [SAMEEEKSHA newsletter, December 2023, Profile of Durgapur secondary steel cluster (TERI)](https://sameeeksha.org/newsletter/SAMEEEKSHA%20December_2023-final.pdf), [European Commission, Guidance on CBAM verification and accreditation (24 August 2026), sections 2.1, 2.2 and 9.2.3, Table 11](https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/document/download/030fe146-38e5-46b8-82b5-5f72da089a7b_en?filename=GUIDANCE%20ON%20CBAM%20VERIFICATION%20AND%20ACCREDITATION%20FOR%20VERIFIERS%20AND%20NATIONAL%20ACCREDITATION%20BODIES.pdf)

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