New Delhi: Gentari, the clean energy arm of Malaysia-based Petronas, is bullish on investing in green hydrogen, ammonia, and renewable energy in India, its Chief Executive Officer, Sushil Purohit, told ETEnergyWorld.
He said that the company is also focusing on utility-scale solar and deploying electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in India.
“We have a target of investing in 1.2 million tonnes per annum of hydrogen globally and India is going to be a significant country from that point of view. We are actively looking into this space,” he said.
The company has signed MoUs to conduct feasibility studies for green hydrogen projects in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to convert into ammonia and export, he added.
Purohit said that collaboration is key and therefore, the firm is looking for partners in India.
“We are collaborating with companies across the world and also in India to produce hydrogen and then convert it to ammonia. We are also looking at the export market and trying to do deals and to secure big volumes in the market,” said Purohit.
Praising India’s policy on green hydrogen and renewable energy, he said that there is a need for a long-term policy that incentivises private sector investment in this space.
“We are encouraged by India’s recently launched green hydrogen policy and also this year’s Budget. But there is always more that can be done,” he said.
He added that India needs to address the grid infrastructure and power storage. Along with this, the government needs to create a domestic market for green hydrogen by encouraging the consumers and companies to decarbonise.
Looking at only the export market is not going to be sustainable, a domestic market is needed to create a base for producing at scale and achieving the right cost level to export, he said.
The company’s global ambition is 30 GW to 40 GW by 2030 and India will be a key player to achieve this and also hydrogen production targets, said Purohit.
“On the green mobility side, we have 160 charging points in four cities and are looking at expanding in 10 cities. We have 1,000 electric three-wheelers right now and are expecting to expand it to 4,000 vehicles by the end of this calendar year. We are quite bullish in all the three segments – green hydrogen, EVs, and renewable energy,” he added.
The company aims to become one of the largest EV players in Asia Pacific and plans to take about 10 per cent market share in the region with about 25,000 charging points by 2030.
In India’s C&I space, through its company Amplus Solar, Gentari has deployed 1.4 GW of solar projects which are operational and under construction. It expects to scale this up and at the same time focus on scale up the utility segment.
