India's glass industry produces approximately 5–6 MT/year of glass products — container glass (bottles, jars), flat glass (float glass for construction and automotive), and fibreglass insulation. Major producers include Hindusthan National Glass (HNG), Saint-Gobain India, Asahi India Glass (AIS), Finolex Industries, and Gujarat Guardian. The sector emits approximately 12–15 MT of CO₂/year from high-temperature furnace operations (1,400–1,600°C) and from the decomposition of soda ash and limestone in the glass batch.
Glass furnace CO₂ emissions share important characteristics with cement kiln emissions: a significant fraction comes from raw material decomposition (soda ash Na₂CO₃ → Na₂O + CO₂, and limestone CaCO₃ → CaO + CO₂ in some formulations) rather than fuel combustion, making fuel switching and electrification insufficient for full decarbonisation. Oxy-fuel combustion and post-combustion PCC are both applicable to glass furnaces and have been piloted at European glass plants by Saint-Gobain and others.
India's annual glass production — container, flat glass, and fibreglass
Estimated annual CO₂ from India's glass sector — similar to a medium-sized cement cluster
Glass furnace operating temperature — one of the highest-temperature industrial processes
Process CO₂ from raw material decomposition — unavoidable without capture
Post-combustion PCC on glass furnace flue gas (typically 12–20% CO₂) is technically mature — glass furnace flue gas has similar CO₂ concentration and composition to cement kiln exhaust, and the same capture technology is applicable. The challenge for glass sector CCUS is scale: individual glass furnaces are typically 200–500 tonnes of glass/day — producing CO₂ volumes of 50,000–150,000 tonnes/year per furnace. This is below the threshold for economic standalone CCS infrastructure, making shared infrastructure with adjacent cement or other industrial plants essential.
Oxy-fuel combustion for glass furnaces is more commercially advanced than for cement — several European glass plants have converted to oxy-fuel operation for efficiency reasons (oxy-fuel improves glass quality and reduces NOx emissions), and the technology is at TRL 8–9 for glass. The CCS integration step — adding CO₂ collection, compression, and transport to an existing oxy-fuel glass furnace — is straightforward given the concentrated flue gas.
India's glass sector CCUS opportunity is strongest where glass plants are co-located with cement clusters — because shared CO₂ transport and storage infrastructure dramatically reduces the per-tonne CCUS cost for individual glass plants that are too small for standalone CCS economics. The most promising cluster opportunity is in Rajasthan, where Finolex and HNG glass operations are in relative proximity to the Beawar-Chittorgarh cement cluster — creating the potential for a multi-sector CO₂ cluster serving both cement and glass CO₂ sources.
Saint-Gobain India — a subsidiary of the global Saint-Gobain group, which has committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 — brings global parent company CCUS learning and capital to its Indian operations. Saint-Gobain's European CCUS programme (oxy-fuel glass + CCS pilots at Chantereine, France) provides direct reference technology and corporate finance support for Indian glass CCUS deployment. NCM is engaged with Saint-Gobain India on a preliminary assessment for their Sriperumbudur (Tamil Nadu) float glass plant.
NCM's glass sector advisory focuses on two elements: technology assessment (oxy-fuel + CCS vs. PCC retrofit, specific to each plant's furnace type and firing configuration) and cluster economics (identifying the adjacent industrial CO₂ sources that can share infrastructure and reduce per-tonne costs to an economic level). The cluster design is critical — without shared infrastructure, most individual glass plants are below the economic threshold for standalone CCS.
For Saint-Gobain India and other global glass company subsidiaries, NCM's advisory also provides parent company engagement support — connecting the Indian subsidiary's CCUS programme to the parent's global Net Zero commitments and accessing corporate CCUS capital that may be allocated by headquarters for Indian deployment.
Whether you are a government body seeking policy advice, an industrial company facing CBAM exposure, or an investor seeking CCUS project opportunities — our team is ready to engage.