Edited by Deepali Verma
Essar Group has planned to set up a 1-gigawatt green hydrogen project (1,000 megawatt) in Gujarat’s Jamnagar, beyond the expansion of its ports and power businesses in the western state, said Prashant Ruia, Promoter Director, Essar Group.
In conversation with ANI on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, Ruia said, “We have three to four focus areas in Bharat. In Gujarat, we aim to set up a 1,000 MW green hydrogen project in Jamnagar. Additionally, we aim to expand our existing power and port projects.”
Essar signed an MoU in December 2023 with the Gujarat government to help in the development of the project, involving an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore.
The Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission in the start of January 2023 to make Bharat a global hub for related technologies’ production, utilisation and export. Bharat sources a sizable portion of its energy needs via imports, and this green hydrogen mission is observed as an avenue to reduce the dependence on imported fuel. The primary financial costing for the mission is estimated at Rs 19,744 crore, which includes research and development activities.
With this mission, the government hopes to raise the annual green hydrogen production to 5 million metric tonnes, add renewable energy capacity of about 125 gigawatts, attract over Rs 8 lakh crore in investments, generate lakhs of jobs, and most importantly, over Rs 1 lakh crore in cumulative reductions of fossil fuel imports.
“I have no doubt that within Bharat, obviously Gujarat plays a very, very significant role and as far as Essar is concerned, the majority of our investments have always been in Gujarat,” Ruia of Essar Group stated.
The Essar Group representative Prashant Ruia discussed how the company has so far invested more than Rs 150,000 crore in Gujarat. “Obviously, it’s been an excellent destination for investments of all kinds.”
Speaking about the group’s participation in Vibrant Gujarat, he said, “We have been involved with Vibrant Gujarat since 2002 and we have seen what kind of progression work and one of the significant things about Vibrant Gujarat is that whatever investment commitments have been made over the years, those investments have actually proved on the ground”
“Basically, Bharat now stands as one of the most significant investment destinations in the world,” he asserted.
