BITS Pilani, in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and UltraTech Cement, has received a hashtag
hashtag#collaborative grant of ~₹34 crores—₹25 crores from the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, and the remaining amount from industry partner UltraTech Cement marking a significant step in India’s industrial hashtag
hashtag#decarbonization efforts.

Recognizing the critical need to decarbonize the cement sector, DST had launched a call to mobilize Academia-Industry consortia for Carbon Capture Utilization (CCU) technologies.

This special call aimed to develop and deploy CCU test beds with integrated CO₂ capture and utilization units in industrial setups through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. Five CCU test beds have been approved each combining top research institutions and cement manufacturers.

As part of this initiative, BITS Pilani, hashtag
hashtag#IIT Madras, and hashtag
hashtag#UltraTech Cement will set up a 1 TPD pilot plant for CO₂ capture coupled with and mineralization.

The official announcement was made on Technology Day, May 11, 2025, at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi, with Dr Jitendra Singh , Honorable Minister of Science and Technology, and Minister of Earth Sciences GOI presenting the awards.
The award was received by Prof. Manu Santhanam (IIT Madras), Dr Raju Goyal (Executive President & CTO, UltraTech Cement), and Prof. Srinivas Krishnaswamy (Lead PI for BITS Pilani from K K Birla Goa campus).

Also present: Prof. Satyapaul Singh (BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus), Dr. Surender Singh (IIT Madras), Prof. Pratik Sheth (BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus)
This success was made possible by the dedication of the following other members of the BITS Pilani team across all campuses:

Pilani: Prof. Subhasis Pradhan, Prof. Smita Raghuvanshi
Goa: Prof. Dr. RANJIT S. PATIL, Prof. Devendra Patil, Ph.D., Prof. Neena Goveas, Prof. Dr. Narendra Nath Ghosh, FRSC
Hyderabad: Prof. Srikanta Dinda, Prof. Dr. Vikranth K. Surasani , Prof. Srinivas Appari, Prof. Raghuram Ammavajjala., Prof. Anasua GuhaRay.

Special thanks to Prof. R. R. Sonde bits for his mentorship and guidance.
Appreciation to Prof. Manu Santhanam and the IIT Madras team for coordinating with DST on behalf of entire team.

Thanks to Dr. Anita Gupta, Dr. Neelima Alam, Dr. Sanjai Kumar, and the DST team for their support.

Gratitude to Mr. Raj Narayanan (Business Head and Chief Manufacturing Officer, Ultratech Cement) and Dr. Ram Narayanan, Sagar Gulawani and Dr. Prakash Mathur from ABSTC Company Limited for their inputs.