India will support steel exports hit by Europe’s carbon tax, federal secretary says

 India’s steel exports will continue to ​be impacted by the European Union’s ‌carbon tax and import quotas, ​and the government will take steps to help the sector, the federal steel secretary said on Monday (February 9, 2026).

The comments come days after India and the European Union signed a trade deal, ​which slashed tariffs on several sectors ⁠but left the bloc’s carbon border tariff, called Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, intact. Indian steel ​mills ship roughly two-thirds of their total exports to Europe.

“With European Union’s CBAM and tariffs, quotas and other challenges, exports will ‌remain a problem and we ‌will have to take action,” said Steel Secretary Sandeep Poundrik at ‍a government event in New Delhi.

India has sharply criticised the world-first CBAM ‍policy since it was announced by the EU in 2021, saying the levy could hamper trade in steel. Since January, the regulatory framework brought in by the EU has led to fees on imports of steel, cement and ⁠other goods whose production results in high levels of carbon emissions.

India’s ​steel exports to Europe are expected to ⁠fall as a consequence, prompting mills to seek alternative buyers in Africa and the Middle East, Reuters reported.