- LE News Desk

Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, inaugurated India’s first Integrated CCUS Field Laboratory Facility under Bharat Innovates 2026 at IIT Bombay. The event was held in the presence of Shri Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India; Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Director, IIT Bombay; Prof. Milind Atrey, Deputy Director (Academics, Research and Translation); Prof. Ravindra Gudi, Deputy Director (Finance, Infrastructure and Administration); Institute functionaries, faculty members, staff and students, and industry professionals, government representatives, and entrepreneurs.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said that this launch marks an important milestone in advancing India’s clean energy innovation ecosystem. He extended his best wishes to UrjanovaC, incubated at SINE, IIT Bombay, for translating advanced research into scalable national capability. It reflects India’s growing strength in emerging technologies, driven by innovation, scale, and long-term vision, he added. He further said that India’s Panchamrit commitments announced by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the national goal of achieving Net Zero Emissions Targets by 2070 define a clear pathway towards sustainable and responsible growth. He added that CCUS will play a critical role in this transition, powered by indigenous science and technological capability.

Shri Pradhan also stated that the achievement reflected the larger vision of NEP 2020, which aims at creating institutions that not only generate knowledge but also build national capability through innovation, enterprise, and research-led solutions. He said that India possessed the talent, scale, and scientific potential to emerge as a global leader in sustainable technologies. Stressing the need for stronger collaboration between academia, industry, policymakers, and society, Shri Pradhan said that such partnerships were essential to transform this potential into meaningful national outcomes for Viksit Bharat 2047.  He added that the launch of the CCUS Field Laboratory Facility was a concrete step forward in that direction. Shri Vineet Joshi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, said that IIT Bombay demonstrates how academia, industry, and policy can come together to address critical sustainability challenges through innovation in carbon capture and utilisation. The initiative reflects the vision of the National Education Policy 2020 and can serve as a roadmap for other institutions across the country as India advances towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047, he added.

The initiative is expected to serve as a national test bed for next-generation carbon management technologies and accelerate India’s emergence as a global leader in climate-tech innovation. The event marked the commissioning of an indigenously built Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) Pilot Facility with a capacity of up to 3 tones per day and the commencement of Geological CO₂ Sequestration (GCS) scientific drilling in basalt formations to develop robust storage monitoring protocols. The pioneering facility establishes India’s first end-to-end CCUS field laboratory, integrating indigenous carbon capture technology with carbon utilisation and permanent geological sequestration. The facility demonstrates a self-reliant, closed-loop carbon mitigation approach rooted in indigenous innovation and aligned with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Developed at IIT Bombay with support from the Government of India, industry partners and the Institute’s innovation ecosystem, the project advances India’s Panchamrit climate commitments and long-term Net-Zero targets. At the core of the facility is an advanced aqueous-based catalytic CO₂ capture technology developed entirely at IIT Bombay. The scalable, sustainable, and cost-effective patented technology uses earth abundant catalytic materials to capture carbon dioxide from ambient air as well as industrial flue gases.

The technology is being scaled up by UrjanovaC, a deep-tech venture incubated at the Society for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay, founded by Prof. Vikram Vishal and Prof. Arnab Dutta, and is recognised among the leading start-ups featured in Bharat Innovates 2026.

Source: https://www.education.gov.in