John Cockerill, a global company, is committed to supporting India’s push towards green industrialization. In an interview with Abha Rustagi, Vivek Bhide, Regional President (India) and Group Transformation Officer, John Cockerill, outlined the company’s plans to help India achieve its goals of decarbonization and self-reliant manufacturing. John Cockerill aims to leverage its global expertise and deepen local partnerships to help India meet its target of producing 5 million metric tons of green hydrogen annually by 2030.
The company is working closely with leading steel manufacturers to modernize and optimize their operations by implementing state-of-the-art furnaces, integrated automation systems, and sustainability-focused solutions. John Cockerill has recently signed contracts with JSW JFE Electrical Steel Nashik, Tata Steel, and Jindal Steel, demonstrating its capability to deliver customized green downstream solutions.
John Cockerill is also deploying some of India’s largest electrolyser plants, with phased commissioning planned by 2029. The company is focusing on providing reliable, efficient, and cost-effective green hydrogen production solutions that will help decarbonize key industrial sectors such as steel, chemicals, and power generation.
In terms of innovations, John Cockerill has developed technologies that directly enhance performance, quality, and sustainability in cold rolling and processing lines. These include integrated automation and digital twin systems, low-energy annealing furnaces, high-precision silicon steel processing lines, and waste heat recovery systems.
The company is also helping Indian steelmakers remain globally competitive while decarbonizing by offering modular and scalable decarbonization solutions, localized manufacturing and supply chains, and cost-efficient, India-centric solutions. John Cockerill believes that India has the fundamentals to emerge as a global hub for green steel manufacturing and is expanding its local engineering and manufacturing footprint to serve both domestic and global markets.
The company is investing in R&D partnerships with Indian institutes to advance low-carbon steel and hydrogen innovation and scaling up deployment of multi-hundred-MW electrolyser projects to enable green hydrogen adoption in steelmaking. Through these initiatives, John Cockerill aims to help India become not only a leading producer of green steel but also a global model for sustainable industrialization.
Overall, John Cockerill is committed to supporting India’s transition to a green economy and is working closely with local partners to achieve this goal. The company’s plans and investments in India are expected to contribute to the country’s emerging green hydrogen economy and help Indian steelmakers become more competitive and sustainable in the global market. With its expertise and innovative solutions, John Cockerill is well-positioned to play a key role in India’s push towards green industrialization.