India Pushes Steel Slag Use in Road Construction to Cut Costs, Boost Sustainability

India has taken another healthy step toward sustainable infrastructure in its recent directives to heavily use processed steel slag for road construction. In essence, the latest guidelines issued by NITI Aayog will massify turning industrial waste into resource-valued materials-reducing the cost of making such materials as well as lessening the environmental negative impact.

So far, steel slag has been the last waste problem of steel production. The replacement of natural aggregates in road developments by using slag as an alternative has been thought to offer sustainability in resource conservation and improve the durability of roads under scarcity conditions. This, according to a senior government official, is also likely to reduce the carbon footprint of infrastructure development.

This is after years of research and field trials carried out jointly by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI), demonstrating that processed slag meets the necessary performance criteria for use in highways; that is, either on par or better than traditional materials. The guidelines also speak on the safe handling, processing and storage to avoid contamination of soil and water by potential trace elements.

“Steel slag is a game changer for road construction in India,” they added to the larger campaign of making India a nation for “sustainability” and “circular economy” goals of the government. Private enterprise-sponsored advances thus ultimately empower implementation. The first to license steel slag valorisation technology from CSIR-CRRI is ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel Limited (AM/NS India). Slag will hereafter be government-approved input to manufacture certified aggregates of road-grade quality by AM/NS, paving the way forward for other steelmakers.

And this announcement comes amid ongoing policy discussions on the steel sector, with the Global Trade Research Initiatives (GTRI) recently warning that the Directorate General of Trade Remedies’ (DGTR) proposed safeguard duty on steel imports would raise input costs for automakers, thereby disrupting supply chains. However, analysts in the industry are of the opinion that these initiatives, like slag for construction, will ease some of the cost pressure with the development of new domestic value streams.

From these guidelines, India would then lead in sustainable practices, combining industrial innovation with infrastructure development.