Indian Oil to spend $25 billion on becoming carbon neutral by 2046

26 Aug 2022 , 09:02 AM

The largest refiner in the nation, Indian Oil Corp., stated that it will invest $25 billion, or 2 trillion rupees, to become carbon neutral by 2046.

Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman of the state-owned refiner and gasoline retailer, said on Thursday that the firm will focus on Scope 1 and 2 emissions as part of its net zero goal. According to Vaidya, the organisation intends to reach 60% of its objective through mitigation and the other 40% through offsets, including the purchase of carbon credits.

From setting the objective with shareholders, Vaidya told reporters in New Delhi that overall emissions at the company’s refineries and petrochemical divisions will begin to decline after 2030. With investments in hydrogen and renewable energy, India’s state-run energy corporations have been developing strategies to transition to low-carbon operations.

According to Vaidya, Indian Oil would invest 5.77 billion rupees in research into fuel cells and eco-friendly goods. By gasifying biomass, the refiner hopes to produce hydrogen. He claimed a pilot facility with a daily capacity of one tonne will be available by the end of the year.

The refiner’s strategy is compared to India’s national objective, which is to achieve net zero by 2070. The aim was stated at COP26 in Glasgow late last year by the third-largest emitter in the world, which sparked a number of policy adjustments to promote economic decarbonization.

While hundreds of electric car charging stations are also being erected around the nation despite the fact that the demand for gasoline is anticipated to stay strong for a very long time, the Indian energy industry is considering investments in green hydrogen and clean electricity. Indian Oil has stated that it aims to produce 70,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually by the year 2030.