PUNE: Praj Industries is eying opportunities in multiple sectors including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), biopolymers, and the energy transition & climate actions (ETCA), and is expecting to triple its revenues by 2030. During a Press Conference held in the city, Dr. Pramod Chaudhari along with his team comprising Atul Mulay, President, of Bioenergy Business and Ghanshyam Deshpande, President of Technology interacted with the media about the possible opportunities and Praj’s preparedness to grab the same.
Speaking on the occasion Dr Pramod Chaudhari said, “The energy transition & climate actions (ETCA) sector which has a global potential and contains segments like blue and green hydrogen, green ammonia, and west to energy solutions is expected to drive the growth. Globally, the energy majors are likely to invest close to INR 25 Lakh Crore in the clean energy sector by 2030, whereas the traditional oil and gas market will continue to attract new investments to the tune of 21 Lakh Crore in the next 10 years time on the global front.”
“This will lead to a significant demand for modularization solutions for setting up plants in the above-mentioned sectors. To cater to this demand, Praj has developed strong engineering capabilities in modularization and has set up a dedicated advanced manufacturing facility at Mangalore in Karnataka with an investment of about INR 400 Cr. Spread across 123 acres of land, this plant can deliver revenues in the range of INR 2000-2500 Cr annually at the optimum level”, Dr. Chaudhari added.
“The CORSIA agreement for the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) has opened a door to new opportunities for Praj as India has set the target of blending 1% by 2027 and 2% by 2028. Whereas, the EU and USA have kept the SAF blending target of 6% and 10% respectively. India’s first commercial passenger flight powered by indigenously produced SAF from sugarcane molasses successfully flew from Pune to New Delhi. Air Asia, Praj, and Indian Oil came together for this successful attempt”, informed Ghanshyam Deshpande.
Atul Mulay said, “The current revenues of Praj are close to INR 3400 Cr annually, and we have a goal to reach INR 10,000 Cr by the year 2030. Currently, the share of exports is around 29%; going forward, we are looking at increasing it to 50% by 2030.”
Updates from the Praj’s community project to make Mandede Village a Net zero and a climate-resilient Village
Praj Industries Limited with support from the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) has undertaken a special project to make the Mandede village near Paud a model Net Zero and a climate-resilient village. The initiative aims to work in areas like water, energy, waste, livelihood, and social. It has a range of interventions enhancing efficiency, bringing better governance, and increasing sustainability in each area.
While sharing the updates of this flagship project, Atul Mulay informed that the initiative started about a year and a half ago and a lot of changes have taken place in the village. Some of the significant ones include the installation of clean cookstoves in 50% of households. This has resulted in a 50% reduction in fuel wood usage and an equivalent reduction in emissions.
Energy:
Secondly, as a part of a pilot project to reduce scope 2 emissions from electricity usage, solar panels are fitted in more than 10% of households. On the successful completion of the pilot, the project shall be scaled up. A lot of enthusiasm has been witnessed from villagers for solar panel installation.
Water:
On the water resources management front, the desiltation of three chain bunds has been completed. It has resulted in water availability till the end of the summer. It has helped in the recharge of groundwater and increasing levels of dug wells & bore wells downstream. A detailed study to quantify the impact is in progress. The technical hydro-geological study has been done and the watershed management initiative will begin this winter as the mapping of water resources is complete.
Waste Management and Reuse of Wastewater:
On the waste treatment front Eco-STP, a nature-based solution to naturally treat the grey water is established in main Wadi. This will treat the entire wastewater of the wadi with no energy input. This is also being implemented in the other locations of the village soon. The process of treating household-level organic waste at the households only has been started and facilities like composters are being made available for the same. The plastic and other waste are being deposited into the central bins provided at multiple locations in the village and is being taken care of through authorized recyclers.
Many more initiatives are in the pipeline to make this village a net zero climate-resilient one.
