Fly Ash/Slag Geopolymer Technology Development and Deployment in Construction and Infrastructure Industry:India’s Perspective

India is fast shifting from the image of agrarian economy to industrial economy. While the total Indian Economy is of 152.51 lakh Crore rupees, the construction sector contribution alone to the national GDP is 10,64,068 Crore rupees. Construction and infrastructure industry exerts a lot of environmental pressure by consuming natural assets and the cement production is energy intensive. Cement that production is responsible for around 10% of global CO₂ emissions. Like other countries with emerging economies, India faces the dual challenge of reconciling its rapid economic growth with a pressing need to address climate change. This paper addresses on the innovation in the Low carbon foot print material, Geopolymers, alternatives to Portland cement that show similar mechanical properties that provide new incentives to address the climate change. In India, geopolymer technology is still confined at laboratory research and development levels. Beyond research, this new material technology has to be crossed in transition from scientific discovery from laboratory to innovation and wide scale deployment. This paper centers on the feasibility of geopolymer production from the industrial by products: Fly ash/Slag from resources available and its application acceptance in India for the present and the future. The key drivers for uptake of geopolymer technology are the need of stakeholder’s initiative, development of knowledge base, technical/equipment providers and practical standards. Strategy and implementation plan at national level is required for promotion of green materials and replacement of high embodied energy materials with lower one.