New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS): Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) is key to ensuring sustainable development and growth in India, particularly for production of clean products and energy, leading to an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

This is the finding of a study titled 'Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage Policy Framework and its Deployment Mechanism in India', which was released on Tuesday by government think-tank Niti Aayog.

The report explores the importance of CCUS as an emission reduction strategy to achieve deep decarbonisation from the hard-to-abate sectors.

It outlines broad level policy interventions needed across various sectors for its application.

As India has updated its NDC targets for achieving 50 per cent of its total installed capacity from non-fossil-based energy sources, 45 per cent reduction in emission intensity by 2030 and taking steps towards achieving Net Zero by 2070, the role of CCUS becomes important as reduction strategy to achieve decarbonisation from the hard-to-abate sectors.

"CCUS can enable the production of clean products while still utilizing our rich endowments of coal, reducing imports and thus leading to an Atmanirbhar Indian economy," said Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.

Implementation of CCUS technology can certainly be an important step to decarbonise the hard-to-abate sector, the report said.

CCUS projects will also lead to a significant employment generation. It estimates that about 750 million tonnes per annum of carbon capture by 2050 can create employment opportunities of about 8-10 million on full time equivalent (FTE) basis in a phased manner.