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GS3 · Climate change / technology

DST launches R&D roadmap for carbon capture (CCUS)

1 min readClimate ChangeScience & Technology
Battle IAS current affairs title card: DST launches R&D roadmap for carbon capture (CCUS) (GS3 · Climate change / technology, 4 December 2025)
Asked by UPSCMains 2025 (GS3)1 PYQ

UPSC has already asked about this. Read the story with these questions in mind.

What happened

  • The first R&D Roadmap to enable India’s Net Zero targets through Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, prepared by DST, was launched by the Principal Scientific Adviser on 2 December 2025 [PIB].
  • DST has set up CCU test beds in real plants through public-private partnerships, focused on power, cement and steel [PIB].

Background

  • India’s net-zero target is 2070. CCUS matters for hard-to-abate sectors where cleaner alternatives are limited [PIB].

Why it matters

  • Cement releases CO2 from limestone itself, so renewables alone cannot clean it. That is why CCUS keeps coming up in Mains answers on industrial decarbonisation.

How to use this in Mains

GS-III Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, EIA

  1. As per PIB (2025-12-04): the first R&D Roadmap to enable India's Net Zero targets through Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, prepared by DST, was launched by the Principal Scientific Adviser on 2 December 2025.
  2. Cement releases CO2 from limestone itself, so renewables alone cannot clean it. That is why CCUS keeps coming up in Mains answers on industrial decarbonisation.
Quotable data point

The first R&D Roadmap to enable India's Net Zero targets through Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, prepared by DST, was launched by the Principal Scientific Adviser on 2 December 2025.

PIB: DST: CCUS R&D roadmap, 4 Dec 2025

Exam angle

UPSC

Prelims: CCUS. · Mains: hard-to-abate sectors.

Practice MCQs

Original practice questions (not PYQs).

Practice · UPSC

India's net-zero target year

Answer (d) & explanation

PIB.

Practice · UPSC

The CCUS R&D roadmap was prepared by

Answer (b) & explanation

PIB.

Practice · UPSC

Which is NOT among sectors named for DST's CCU test beds?

Answer (d) & explanation

PIB.

Go deeper

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Official source: PIB: DST: CCUS R&D roadmap, 4 Dec 2025

facts from cited sources only; faculty review pending