ONGC to invest Rs 1 trillion to become net zero by 2038

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), a large state-run exploration and production company, wants to invest Rs 1 trillion by 2030 to balance its oil and gas exploration and production portfolio with renewable energy, according to chairman Arun Kumar Singh. According to Singh, the corporation will invest Rs 1 lakh crore in the project. "We have done our internal calculations and are now confident that we can achieve net-zero for Scope-1 and Scope-2 emissions by 2038," Singh added.

ONGC aims to increase its portfolio of renewable energy sources from 189 megawatts at the end of March to 10 gigawatts (GW) by 2030. The company is looking for opportunities to set up a further 5GW of this and has already signed an MoU to establish 5GW. The first offshore wind seabed lease tender to be floated in India will also receive a bid from ONGC.

By 2030, the government intends to publish tenders for seabed leases totaling 37 GW. With a combined potential of roughly 70 GW, the first phase of offshore wind projects will be situated along the shores of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.In addition, ONGC is considering building a 1 million tonne per year green ammonia factory in Mangalore.

Less than $100 million of ONGC Videsh Ltd's dividend income is stranded in Russia as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, but the business is not in a rush to get it back. Rajarshi Gupta, the managing director of OVL, stated, "We are not in a hurry to get it (the dividend income) back as the company has capital and operating expenses for the three projects in Russia."

The purchase of shares in four distinct Russian enterprises totaled $5.46 billion in investment by Indian oil corporations. A 49.9% share in the oil and gas field Vankorneft and a 29.9% stake in the TAAS-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha oilfield are among them. Oil corporations receive dividends on their sales of the oil and gas produced in these fields. Following the war with Ukraine, Russia imposed limitations on the return of funds. Gupta stated that negotiations are ongoing and that the company is looking at appropriate banking channels.

ONGC, which stopped the downward trend in oil and gas output in 2022–2023, the total hydrocarbon production will increase by 5% this fiscal year and by 25% over the next three years. Additionally, Singh noted that the Mozambique LNG export project, which has been halted due to attacks by ISIS militants, could resume operations by 2026–2027. ONGC's stock ended at Rs 158.90, down 2.87%. The benchmark Sensex closed up 0.55%.

In the fourth quarter, ONGC reported a loss of Rs 248 crore due to provision for unresolved royalties taxes. In the same quarter last year, it had declared a profit of Rs 8,860 crore. Due to increasing petrol prices, revenues increased 5% year over year to Rs 36,293 crore in the fourth quarter. Profit for the entire year decreased 3.7% to Rs 38,829 crore. Revenue increased 41% annually at Rs 1,55,517 crore.