Perspectives on the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) remain deeply polarised. While the EU frames CBAM as a central tool to achieve its climate objectives, many developing countries, including India, view it as economically burdensome, potentially protectionist, and misaligned with principles of climate justice. This tension is increasingly reflected in EU–India trade relations, where CBAM has become a key point of contention.
This report moves beyond this binary debate by examining the differentiated impact of CBAM on India’s steel sector. It shows that the effects of the mechanism are highly uneven across firms, depending on emissions intensity, production processes, and compliance capacity. In doing so, it challenges dominant narratives and highlights the need for a more granular understanding of how climate-trade measures interact with domestic industrial realities.