Essar to invest Rs 55,000 cr in energy, port projects in Gujarat

New Delhi: Essar group will invest Rs 55,000 crore in energy transition, power, and port projects in Gujarat, the firm said on Thursday after signing pacts with the state government.

The investments are for setting up a 1 gigawatt green hydrogen project, expansion of Salaya power plant and transforming Salaya port into a logistics hub.

In a statement, the company said it signed three memoranda of understanding with the government of Gujarat for a total investment of Rs 55,000 crore ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024.

"Essar is in a renewed phase of making strategic investments in the field of energy transition, power and port sectors in the state. This initiative aims to create over 10,000 job opportunities," it said.

Over the last four decades, Essar has invested more than Rs 1 lakh crore in the energy, metals and mining and infrastructure sectors in Gujarat. These investments included a 20 million tonnes a year oil refinery at Vadinar and a steel plant at Hazira. These projects were sold over the past few years to clear debt and Essar is now embarking on a second phase of investments.

On the signing of the MoU, Prashant Ruia, Director at Essar Capital, commented, "Gujarat has consistently been at the forefront of Essar's strategic investments. We are delighted to further contribute to the state's economic progress with an additional investment of Rs 55,000 crore in the energy and infrastructure sectors." Energy transition investment will be in the 1 GW green hydrogen project to be set up at a cost of Rs 30,000 crore.

Essar will make an additional Rs 16,000 crore investment in Phase-II expansion at its Salaya Power Plant. Besides, Rs 10,000 crore would be invested by Essar Ports to transform its Salaya port into a logistics hub.

"The signing of these agreements signifies Essar's commitment to continue its contribution to Gujarat's multi-faceted growth trajectory," the statement said.

The group however did not give timelines for the completion of these projects.

Essar has assets across core sectors of energy (comprising of energy transition, exploration and production, refining and marketing and power businesses), infrastructure and logistics (comprising ports, projects and green mobility businesses), metals and mining (green steel project and DRI pellets) and technology and retail (comprising shipping, oilfield services, technology solutions and FnV Retail).

The portfolio companies have aggregate revenues of USD 15 billion.