New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday launched India’s first Integrated Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Field Laboratory Facility at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, describing the initiative as a major step towards strengthening the country’s clean energy innovation ecosystem.
The facility has been developed to support research and technological advancement in carbon capture, utilisation, and storage, a sector considered crucial for reducing industrial carbon emissions and supporting India’s long-term climate goals, Pradhan said in a post on X.
The minister extended his congratulations to UrjanovaC, a startup incubated at the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIT Bombay, for transforming advanced scientific research into scalable technological capability for the country.
Pradhan said the launch reflects India’s growing capabilities in emerging technologies driven by innovation, scientific research, and long-term strategic vision. He emphasised that indigenous technological development would play a key role in helping India build sustainable industrial and energy systems in the coming decades.
Referring to India’s Panchamrit commitments announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the national target of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2070, the minister noted that CCUS technology would become an important component of the country’s clean energy transition.
He also linked the development to the broader vision of the National Education Policy 2020, stating that the policy framework encourages institutions to move beyond knowledge generation and contribute towards innovation, enterprise, and research-driven national capacity building.
According to Pradhan, India possesses the scientific talent, research ecosystem, and industrial scale required to emerge as a global leader in sustainable technologies. He stressed the need for deeper collaboration between academic institutions, industries, policymakers, and society to convert research potential into large-scale national outcomes.
“The launch of the CCUS Field Laboratory Facility is a concrete step forward in that direction,” he noted.
