Indian state approves more than $2bn investment into two new green hydrogen-based ammonia plants

The state of Odisha in eastern India has approved two investment proposals for green ammonia projects, worth a combined 188.1 billion rupees ($2.27bn).

The larger of the two investments has been put forward by Waaree, one of India’s largest solar panel manufacturers.

Its proposed green ammonia plant, worth 124.8 billion rupees ($1.51bn), would produce 1.2 million tonnes a year of NH3 in the Jagatsinghpur municipality, bringing with it an estimated 3,250 jobs.

Meanwhile, EG Solwin Hybrid, an Indian subsidiary of US-based renewables firm Enfinity Global, plans to invest 63.3 billion rupees ($765m) into a 300,000-tonnes-a-year green ammonia facility at the Tata Steel Special Economic Zone.

The planned 2,970-acre industrial hub near the port of Gopalpur is already due to site at least three more green ammonia plants:

• A 720,000-tonnes-a-year project by an Indian subsidiary of Singaporean energy firm Sembcorp, expected to cost 130 billion rupees
• A 1.3-million-tonnes-a-year project by Indian developer ACME, expected to cost 270 billion rupees, with 400,000 tonnes of NH3 a year from 2028 already contracted by Japanese engineering company IHI
• A project reportedly set to produce 500,000 tonnes a year by developer Avaada

Odisha’s government has also previously approved an investment proposal by Welspun New Energy for a 700,000 tonnes-a-year green NH3 facility, as well as a proposal by Aegis Vopak for an ammonia storage tank facility in Gopalpur capable of storing 80,000 tonnes.

The Indian federal government targets at least five million tonnes of green hydrogen production by 2030, with the potential to reach ten million tonnes a year to supply a globally traded market for H2.

In January, the country’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy published guidelines for an upcoming auction for subsidies to support green ammonia production, shortly after announcing the winners of its first tender for renewable hydrogen.