Cities are spatial engines of growth and prosperity, driven by agglomeration benefits but constrained by congestion costs, and serve as central levers for economic transformation.

By 2030, nearly 70 Indian cities will each host more than one million inhabitants, driving unprecedented expansion of urban housing and infrastructure demand at the city level, with local governments responsible for a substantial share of building approvals and development control regulations. India is expected to more than double its built floor area over the next two decades and replace a substantial portion of its existing building stock by 2050 to meet the housing needs of a growing population. This rapid pace of urbanisation, concentrated in India’s cities, will significantly increase cement and steel consumption — core materials for buildings and infrastructure — locking in emissions-intensive material-use patterns for the next 50 years.

Decisions made at the city level today on how millions of square metres of housing are planned and constructed will shape the long-term carbon trajectory of India’s building sector. Advancing the adoption of low-carbon cement and steel in urban housing is therefore both a climate imperative and a critical pathway to sustainable, low-carbon cities.

This report introduces a first-of-its-kind city-level framework for India to accelerate the adoption of low-carbon cement and steel in the urban housing sector. It highlights the role of cities in mitigating embodied carbon, reviews national policies shaping the low-carbon transition, draws on global best practices, and presents an integrated framework to guide local governments in translating ambition into action.

Exhibit 1: City-level framework for advancing the adoption of low-carbon cement and steel in India’s urbanThe report serves as a guiding resource for policymakers, urban planners, industry stakeholders, and financial institutions, offering actionable strategies to align urban housing development with India’s climate commitments. It aims to catalyse the scaling of low-carbon construction, strengthen institutional capacity, and ensure long-term sustainability in India’s urban housing sector.