Burn waste, not cash: how India's cement producers can meet their initial carbon market targets

India's cement sector still relies on fossil fuels for around 95% of its fuel mix, while Europe already has a thermal substitution rate (TSR) of around 56%. Under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS), 131 integrated cement plants must cut emissions intensity, and replacing fossil fuels with waste-derived fuels is the most immediate means of achieving this. Every percentage point of waste-derived fuel counts towards both the CCTS targets and the 15% TSR target for 2032 under the Solid Waste Management Rules. This analysis quantifies the additional TSR that each integrated plant needs to meet the initial CCTS targets, using a plant-by-plant simulation of all obligated integrated plants.