A GREEN TWIST IN THE TALE

Praj rides the green wave with investments in clean energy and the use of advanced tech in biofuels and ethanol blending.

- NEVIN JOHN

IN OCTOBER last year, a Pune-based biofuel technology firm launched the country's first demonstration facility for biopolymers that can produce compostable bioplastics. In December, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari unveiled the first national highway using bio-bitumen developed by Praj Industries. A month later, Praj launched a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) demonstration facility at its R&D centre in Pune.

With the roll-out of new projects, Praj aims to triple revenues to ₹10,000 crore and grow its profit over five times to ₹1,500 crore by 2030. It also intends to raise the share of its exports business to 50% from 30%. Pramod Chaudhari, who founded the firm in 1983, believes Praj’s investments in SAF, biopolymers, and energy transition and climate action (ETCA) will drive the next phase of growth. The ETCA sector includes blue and green hydrogen, green ammonia and waste-to-energy solutions. “Globally, energy majors are likely to invest close to ₹25 lakh crore in clean energy by 2030, whereas the traditional oil and gas market will continue to attract investments to the tune of ₹21 lakh crore in the next 10 years,” says Chaudhari.