India Rolls Out First ‘Green Steel’ TMT Bars with Ultra-Low Emissions

In a major stride toward sustainable construction, India has rolled out its first batch of ultra-low emission ‘green steel’ TMT bars, developed by ARS Steel and supplied to fashion manufacturer Epic Group’s new ₹377 crore facility in Bhubaneswar.

Manufactured using 98% recycled steel, renewable energy, and zero fossil fuels, ARS Steel’s 550D grade TMT bars emit just 0.59 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of finished steel (tCO₂/tfs). This figure is significantly lower than the national average of approximately 2.5 tCO₂/tfs, making these bars nearly four times greener than conventional alternatives.

The initiative marks a collaboration between ARS Steel, Epic Group, and sustainability-tech startup sentra.world. The under-construction Bhubaneswar plant is being constructed as a net-zero plant for energy consumption and water use and hopes to cut down on its carbon footprint by a significant margin using green materials such as these TMT bars.

TMT bars are a fundamental material of contemporary infrastructure buildings, bridges, highways which is strong and yet flexible. Their production process is, however, based on the conventional method, which depends excessively on fossil fuels and results in high emissions.

India recently became the first country to introduce official green steel ratings, categorizing any steel emitting below 1.6 tCO₂/tfs as 5-star. ARS Steel’s green TMT bars fall well within this top-tier classification.

“Epic Group’s decision to use ARS’s green steel has cut embodied emissions in their building by approximately 20% compared to the conventional blast furnace method,” the companies said in a joint statement on Friday.

To offer additional transparency and accountability, sentra.world is introducing real-time tracing and tracking of emissions on its AI- and blockchain-enabled platform an industry first in India’s green building sector.

This is a milestone for the decarbonization of India’s steel and construction sectors, with profound implications for climate-responsible infrastructure.