Singapore-based Sembcorp to invest ₹36,238 crore for state-of-the-art green ammonia plant in Thoothukudi

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin virtually lays the foundation stone for the Sembcorp green ammonia project in Chennai on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin laid the foundation stone for several projects on Wednesday and one of them was Sembcorp. The Singapore-headquartered Sembcorp will be investing ₹36,238 crore for a state-of-the-art green ammonia plant in Thoothukudi. The company will operate and produce green ammonia from the plant, spread over 160 acres in the key port area of the district. The plant will initially produce 200,000 metric tonnes green ammonia per annum for exporting to Japan. The front-end engineering and design work for the plant has commenced.

“Today, we lay the foundation stone for Sembcorp’s Green Hydrogen project…and it fills me with pride to state that Tamil Nadu will be the first State in India to roll out commercial production of large-scale green hydrogen molecules,” said Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa.

Earlier this year, Sembcorp signed a Memorandum of Understanding during the Global Investment Meet with the Government of Tamil Nadu. Vipul Tuli, Chairman – South Asia, and CEO – Hydrogen Business, Sembcorp Industries, said, “With its renewable resources and investor-friendly policies, Tamil Nadu is a front-runner State in realising India’s green hydrogen ambitions. Sembcorp is honoured to be part of this historic moment, as the efforts of India, Japan, and Singapore come together in Tamil Nadu to make a mark on the global green hydrogen industry.”

Mr. Rajaa also said that Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) and Tata Technologies had come together for a public engineering facility known as the Tamil Nadu Engineering and Innovation Centre (TN ENGINE) at the Anna University campus in Coimbatore. The foundation stone was laid for this facility for which an amount of ₹400 crore had been earmarked. A video on this facility that was played at the conclave mentioned that this centre which was a first of its kind in India would feature nine emerging technology labs and would be developed in two phases. In the first phase, four labs would be set up with state-of-the-art equipment which would support startups, MSMEs and academia.

The Industries Minister further said: “During the recent elections Chief Minister promised industrial growth for Coimbatore. A few days back the industries department finished the acquisition for the Kovai airport expansion project, paving the way for a massive transition in Coimbatore…and today, we are also looking to the furture by enabling more R&D in Coimbatore.”

Citing an example of how quickly MoUs are converted into business, Mr, Rajaa said that just about a year ago, the Chief Minister signed a MoU with Omron Healthcare to set up a medical equipment manufacturing plant. “Less than two months later in July 2023 they broke ground for this project. And today here we are inaugurating the projects commercial production,” he highlighted.

B.Santhanam, CEO of Saint-Gobain Asia Pacific and India Region, narrated that 24 years ago almost to this date the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi inaugurated their first factory…it was a mere ₹525 crore investment. “Today, in the last two decades plus we have invested 10X of that amount,” he said.