JULY 20238TOP STORYINDIA & THE US ARE LIKELY TO COLLABORATE ON GREEN H2, CARBON CAPTURE, & BATTERY ENERGY STORAGEVEDANTA LTD AIMS TO INVEST USD 1.7 BILLION ON EXPANSION PROJECTS IN FY24In order to increase the capabilities of its different commercial operations, Vedanta Ltd expects to invest $1.7 billion in the current fiscal year, according to company chairman Anil Agarwal. He claimed in the company's annual report for the fiscal year 2022­2023 that it had already spent $1.2 billion on expansion capital expenditures in FY2023 to increase its assets and production. In FY 2024, "We anticipate allocating an additional $1.7 billion towards growth projects," Agarwal said.The chairman discussed specifics of the business's projects and stated that Vedanta is already increasing its zinc and aluminium production capacities. With a goal of contributing 50 percent to India's total oil and gas output, he said, "Our oil and gas operations, which make up close to one-fourth of the country's production, are also diversifying their reserves and resources portfolio."Regarding the company's performance in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, FY23, he noted that during that time, Vedanta had to operate in a macro-environment that was challenging and uncertain due to a protracted geopolitical conflict, an energy crisis that followed, and harsh monetary policies used by central banks. Although it recorded revenue of Rs. 1,45,404 crore and EBITDA of Rs. 35,241 crore, it delivered good operational performance. A solid net-free cash flow of Rs 18,077 crore was produced by the corporation. India and the US are anticipated to explore collaboration in green and clean hydrogen, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) and battery energy storage systems. The two countries could also look to partner to speed up cooperation in offshore and onshore wind power and other emerging technologies for energy transition, people close to the development said.This comes in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US. The G20 Summit, under India's presidency, has also highlighted the energy transition as a key focus area. "Both countries could look to collaborate on reducing the cost of green and clean hydrogen", one of the persons said.The production of green hydrogen is currently a high-cost prospect but is expected to become viable with scale. India has ambitious plans in the green hydrogen space. The National Green Hydrogen Mission aims at a production capacity of at least 5 million metric tonnes a year by 2030. The US' Hydrogen Energy Earthshot, launched in 2021, seeks to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen by 80 percent to $1/kg in a decade.India has led discussions on the carbon capture utilisation and storage technology as part of the G20 side events and is open to conduct more pilot projects on it, another person said. The major challenges for CCUS are high cost per unit and what kind of technology to use for storage, he added.
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