Avaada has signed a MoU with Tata Steel SEZ in 2023 to set up a green hydrogen/ammonia manufacturing unit at Gopalpur Industrial Park, Odisha. Current status of the project and expected timeline for commissioning?

The collaboration with Tata Steel SEZ at Gopalpur marks a significant milestone in Avaada Group's vision to establish an integrated green molecules ecosystem in eastern India. 

Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the project has progressed steadily through the planning and pre-development phase. We've seen encouraging traction across key work streams, including land allocation, grid connectivity, and renewable integration, leading to significant advancement of key project milestones. 

We are actively advancing discussions on technology partnerships, project structuring, and off-take alignment with reputable global and domestic players. The process for technology selection and engineering design is currently underway. 

Due to the project's massive scale, we've adopted a carefully phased approach to maintain global competitiveness and future readiness. Our immediate goal is to establish a robust foundation—technically, financially, and environmentally—for a world-class green hydrogen and ammonia complex. This facility will significantly contribute to both Odisha’s industrial ecosystem and India’s broader green energy ambitions. Project plan is progressing for first phase to be commissioned around end 2028/early 2029, with capacity ramp-up thereafter. 

Given your recent renewable energy and storage investments (floating solar, pumped storage, and manufacturing) in Odisha, how will Avaada ensure dedicated, stable renewable power supply for hydrogen electrolysis? 

We are building a diversified renewable ecosystem in Odisha that includes large-scale solar, floating solar, and firm renewable energy solutions, all designed to ensure a continuous supply of clean power. 

To ensure both cost optimization and supply resilience, our strategy combines intra-state renewable projects, which strengthen Odisha’s local grid and industrial ecosystem, with inter-state renewable linkages, which provide access to high-resource zones and balance seasonal variations. This hybrid approach ensures that our green ammonia facility benefits from the most efficient and reliable power mix available nationwide. 

By integrating round-the-clock renewable generation with energy/hydrogen storage and intelligent dispatch systems, we can deliver stable, reliable, and cost-competitive power to our green hydrogen/ammonia facilities. This approach minimizes intermittency risks and maximizes electrolyser utilization, a critical factor in reducing the overall cost of green hydrogen/ammonia. 

The first-of-its-kind energy banking facility secured in Odisha will provide crucial flexibility and play a pivotal role in ensuring operational reliability for our Gopalpur green ammonia Project.  

What synergies does Avaada foresee between its renewable-power generation business, electrolyser manufacturing arm, and hydrogen/ammonia plants, both technically and economically? Are there plans for backward or forward integration to ensure end-to-end control and cost efficiency? 

The synergies across Avaada’s renewable power generation, manufacturing, and green hydrogen/ammonia operations are both strategic and deeply transformative. We see this integration not as an incremental advantage, but as the core of our long-term vision to build a self-sustaining clean energy ecosystem that extends “from sand to molecule.” 

On the technical front, tight integration across renewable generation, storage, and hydrogen/ammonia production enables superior process optimization. For instance, by aligning our solar, wind, floating solar, and storage assets directly with electrolysers, we can ensure round-the-clock green power, minimize intermittency, and achieve higher electrolyser utilization factors — a key driver of lower hydrogen costs.   

On the economic side, integration offers powerful cost and risk advantages. Captive renewable power provides insulation from market price volatility. Additionally, forward integration into green ammonia and derivative production helps us capture more value across the chain, while backward integration into manufacturing, ensures tighter quality control and higher efficiency. 

Our goal is to develop a digitally integrated “Power-to-Molecule” platform that synchronizes renewable generation, storage, electrolysis, and ammonia synthesis into a single, optimized workflow. This unified approach minimizes the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) while strengthening resilience against global supply chain volatility. 

Newly signed MoU with GRIDCO and IIT-Bhubaneswar aims to set up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for green hydrogen. What will be the focus areas? Will the CoE also look at localization of electrolyser manufacturing, hydrogen storage technologies, and green-hydrogen safety norms adaptation for Indian conditions? 

The partnership with GRIDCO and IIT Bhubaneswar to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for green hydrogen represents a significant step in advancing India’s innovation ecosystem for clean energy. 

The CoE will act as a collaborative innovation hub, structured around three core pillars: 

Technology Localization and Adaptation: Focuses on advancing research into indigenous electrolyzer components and hydrogen storage solutions that are specifically designed for India's unique climate and operating conditions.

Safety, Standards, and Regulatory Alignment: Involves working with academic and policy institutions to develop green hydrogen safety protocols, material standards, and codes that align with Indian infrastructure and environmental realities.

Skill Development and Innovation Incubation: Aims to nurture the next generation of scientists, engineers, and startups in the green hydrogen and ammonia sectors, thereby solidifying Odisha's role as a national hub for clean energy innovation. 

In addition, the CoE will play an important role in bridging academic research with industrial application, supporting pilot demonstrations, and fostering real-time technology validation for upcoming large-scale projects like our Gopalpur Green Ammonia facility. 

Does Avaada plan further collaborations with academic/research institutes or other technology providers to develop advanced hydrogen technologies? 

Building India's clean energy future cannot happen in isolation; it is a shared endeavor propelled by science, technology, and strategic partnerships. We are actively connecting with top academic and research entities, global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and technology startups to jointly develop and pilot next-generation solutions spanning the entire value chain. 

These collaborations are not just about technology but about co-creation and adaptation — developing solutions that are optimized for Indian conditions, cost-competitive globally, and aligned with India’s Make-in-India and energy-transition goals.  

Given the large scale and investment, does Avaada intend to target exports of green ammonia/hydrogen derivatives (for global markets), or focus primarily on domestic demand? 

India is set to become a global leader in green hydrogen consumption over the coming decades, propelled by assertive government policies and a strong industry drive toward decarbonization. While domestic usage will eventually dominate, crucial early demand will come from export markets in Europe, Japan, and South Korea as local supply chains mature. 

Our Gopalpur Green Ammonia Project is strategically located on the eastern coast, offering direct access to port infrastructure for global exports while maintaining proximity to domestic industrial hubs. This dual advantage allows us to serve both domestic and international demand seamlessly, ensuring flexibility and long-term market stability. 

We truly appreciate the Government of India’s leadership under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) and the support from the Government of Odisha for creating an enabling environment for such investments.  

However, as the ecosystem evolves, there is a pressing need to build a robust domestic demand framework — through instruments like green hydrogen purchase obligations (GHPOs), refinery and fertilizer blending mandates, and incentives for steel, shipping, and mobility sectors. This will ensure that India not only produces competitively but also creates a stable home market that complements its export ambitions. 

How does Avaada plan to manage logistics, storage, and transport for hydrogen/ammonia? Does it foresee building dedicated port, bunkering or shipping infrastructure? 

Gopalpur’s strategic coastal location gives us a natural logistical advantage for developing an integrated green ammonia export ecosystem. From the very outset, we designed the project with port connectivity, storage, and maritime logistics as core enablers rather than afterthoughts. 

We are closely working with the Gopalpur Port authorities and other state agencies towards dedicated ammonia storage and loading infrastructure. The focus is on creating and using an end-to-end logistics corridor along with storage to ensure seamless movement from production to shipment. 

While Avaada does not intend to build or operate shipping fleets, we are actively exploring strategic partnerships with global ammonia carriers, bunkering companies, and port operators to establish long-term logistics solutions. These partnerships will not only serve our exports but also position Gopalpur as one of India’s first green hydrogen and ammonia maritime hubs, capable of supporting future bunkering operations and hydrogen-based fuel adoption in shipping. 

Given that large-scale electrolysis and ammonia production are water- and energy-intensive, how does Avaada plan to ensure sustainability, water sourcing, zero minimal emissions, waste-management, and manage environmental/social impact in local communities? 

At Avaada, sustainability is not an add-on — it’s the foundation of our green molecules business model. Every aspect of our Gopalpur project has been designed with a deep commitment to environmental stewardship, community well-being, and alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The Government of Odisha is working on to ensure water availability/allocation from sustainable sources such as regulated river systems and designated water bodies. In parallel, desalination-based water supply options are being explored to ensure long-term resilience and zero dependency on freshwater stress zones. 

From a design standpoint, the project incorporates high-efficiency electrolysers, zero-liquid-discharge (ZLD) and closed-loop water recycling systems, state-of-the-art emission control, and renewable-powered auxiliary systems — ensuring that every tonne of green ammonia produced has a minimal environmental footprint. 

Equally important is our social and community engagement strategy. Avaada’s approach goes beyond compliance — we focus on local employment generation, skill development, and creating shared value for nearby communities. Our social impact initiatives ensures that the benefits of the green energy transition are inclusive and sustainable. 

In essence, our Gopalpur project aims to become a benchmark for responsible industrial growth.