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Essar Group is setting up a 1-gigawatt green hydrogen project (1,000 megawatt) in Gujarat's Jamnagar, besides expanding its ports and power businesses in the western state, said Prashant Ruia, Promoter Director, Essar Group.
Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, Ruia said, "We are focusing on three to four areas in India. In Gujarat, we are setting up a 1,000 MW green hydrogen project in Jamnagar. Also, we want to expand our existing power and port projects." In December 2023, Essar signed an MoU with the Gujarat government to develop the project, involving an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore. The Union Cabinet in early January 2023 approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, aiming to make India a global hub for such technologies' production, utilisation, and export. India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through imports, and this green hydrogen mission is seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence on imported fuel. The initial financial outlay for the mission is pegged at Rs 19,744 crore, which includes research and development activities. Under this mission, the government aims to raise 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, lakhs of jobs, and most importantly, over Rs 1 lakh crore in cumulative reductions of fossil fuel imports. "I have no doubt about that and within India, obviously Gujarat is playing a very, very important role and as far as Essar is concerned, majority of our investments have always been in Gujarat," Ruia of Essar Group said. The Essar Group representative Prashant Ruia informed that the company has so far invested more than Rs 150,000 crore in Gujarat. "Obviously, it's been an excellent destination for all kinds of investments." Speaking about the group's participation in Vibrant Gujarat, he said, "Our involvement has been with Vibrant Gujarat since 2002 and we have seen what kind of progression work and one of the important things about Vibrant Gujarat is that whatever commitments and investment commitments have been made over the years, those investments have actually come on ground" "Basically, India is now really one of the most important investment destinations in the world," he asserted. (ANI)
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