A DST project under the Academia-Industry Initiative for CO₂ capture in cement industries has been officially awarded to BITS Pilani, IIT Madras, and UltraTech Cement.  The total funding of approximately ₹34 crores includes ₹25 crores from DST and rest from our Industry partner Ultratech.

The project was officially awarded by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Honorable Minister of Science and Technology on the occasion of Technology Day celebration held on 11^th May 2025 at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.  The award was received by Prof. Manu Santhanam (IIT Madras), Dr. Raju Goyal (CTO, UltraTech Cement) and Prof. Srinivas Krishnaswamy as lead PI on behalf of BITS Pilani in presence of Secretary DST Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary DBT Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Dr. Ajai Choudhary, Co-Founder HCL, Dr. Anita Gupta Head CEST and Dr. Neelima Alam, Associate Head CEST.

Recognizing the critical need for decarbonizing the Cement sector, the DST launched a unique call for mobilizing Academia-Industry Consortia proposals for deployment of Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU) in Cement Sector.  This Special call envisaged to develop and deploy innovative CCU Test bed in Cement Sector with thrust on Developing CO₂ capture + CO₂ Utilization integrated unit in an Industrial set up through an innovative Public Private Partnership (PPP) funding model.  As part of this first of its kind initiative, five CCU test beds have been approved, combining premier research institutions and leading cement manufacturers.

The project envisions BITS Pilani and IIT Madras developing a 1 TPD pilot plant for CO₂ capture in a cement industry, coupled with mineralization.

This success was made possible by the dedication of the BITS Pilani team across all campuses:

Pilani: Prof. Pratik Sheth, Prof. Subhasis Pradhan, Prof. Smita Raghuvanshi

Goa: Prof. Ranjit Patil, Prof. Devendra Patil, Prof. Neena Goveas, Prof. N. N. Ghosh

Hyderabad: Prof. Srikanta Dinda, Prof. Satyapaul Singh, Prof. Vikranth Surasini, Prof. Srinivas Appari, Prof. Raghuram A, and Prof. Anasua G.

The continuous and exceptional support of Prof. R. R. Sonde (BITS Pilani), Prof. Manu Santhanam (IIT Madras), Dr. Anita Gupta (DST), Dr. Neelima Alam (DST), Dr. Sanjai Kumar (DST), and the BITS Pilani leadership is gratefully acknowledged.