The Maharashtra government and the state-run NTPC Green Energy Ltd. (NGEL) signed a deal on Tuesday to create green hydrogen and its derivatives, including green methanol and ammonia, with a maximum annual capacity of one million tonnes.
As part of the Maharashtra government's five-year green investment plan, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been inked. The Union Ministry of Power released a formal statement stating that the deal envisions a possible investment of roughly ₹80,000 crore.
According to the statement, the agreement also calls for the development of renewable energy projects up to 5 GW in the state, with or without storage, and 2 GW of pumped storage projects. Mohit Bhargava, the CEO of NGEL, and Narayan Karad, the Maharashtra government's deputy energy secretary, inked the deal.
The energy supplier added that by 2032, it wants to have 60 GW of renewable energy capacity built. The recent move by NTPC to diversify into clean energy projects is a response to India's aspirations to expand its economy in a less carbon-intensive manner. With an operational capacity of over 3.4 GW and 26 GW in pipeline, including 7 GW under implementation, NGEL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTPC.
In the third quarter of FY 23–24, NTPC reported a 10.2% quarter-over-quarter increase in its net consolidated profit, reaching ₹5,209 crore. Additionally, the net profit of the company rose 7% year over year from ₹4,854.36 crore during the same period last year. On the BSE, NTPC shares closed at ₹315.45, a decrease of 2.83% from the previous day.