| 40 | SPECIAL FEATURE: ESSAR Essar’s Green Vision; charting a blueprint towards net zero Essar, founded by the Ruia family in 1969, has been a significant player and participant in India’s growth story with an entrepreneurial track record of over 50 years. The company has played a vital role in the country’s development, making capital investments of over US$ 33 billion in ports, steel plants, oil refining & retail, oil & gas exploration & production, power generation & transmission, mining, shipping and telecom. With aggregate revenues of US$ 15 billion and Assets Under Management (AUM) of US$ 8 billion, Essar has a reputation of investing, nurturing and creating value in globally significant and complex assets. Today, the world is swiftly shifting to cleaner alternatives, an essential step in combatting climate change. Aligned with the global agenda, Essar has undertaken a transformative journey, reshaping its corporate identity to usher in a new era of sustainability. Now, with a renewed focus on a leaner, cleaner balance sheet, Essar is steering its resurgence strategy around three pivotal pillars: Decarbonisation, Decentralisation, and Digitalisation, shaping the future landscape of its investments. Essar is committed to transitioning its existing assets toward a green economy and investing in future-centric businesses, such as hydrogen production, biofuels, natural gas production and logistics, and green steel manufacturing. These investments aim to transform sector landscapes from carbon-intensive to a clean energy ecosystem. Essar presently holds a strong portfolio comprising world-class businesses across four key verticals: Energy, Infrastructure & Logistics, Metals & Mining, and Technology & Retail. Energy In the energy sector, Essar recently announced the formation of Essar Energy Transition (“EET”) which drives the creation of the UK’s leading energy transition hub in North West England. Essar’s vision propels hydrogen as the future fuel, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive green fuel ecosystem. Essar’s strategic blueprint for a hydrogen ecosystem encompasses a multi-faceted approach poised to redefine the energy landscape. EET plans to invest a total of US$3.6 billion in developing a range of low carbon energy transition projects over the next five years, of which US$2.4 billion will be invested across its site at Stanlow, between Liverpool and Manchester and US$1.2 billion in India. On the other hand, Essar Exploration & Production is actively developing diversified conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon assets with promising prospects in India and Vietnam. The Raniganj block has a resource base of 12 TCF (Trillion Cubic Feet) CBM. The company is contributing significantly to the Nation’s vision of being a gas-based economy. Infrastructure & logistics Within the infrastructure & logistics vertical, Essar operates ports and terminals in India and the UK, and | 41 | has commercial interests in turnkey project construction in India and Middle East. This vertical also includes Essar Green Mobility Solutions, which is dedicated to decarbonising logistics in India by building an LNG ecosystem through investments in Blue Energy Motors., GreenLine Mobility Solutions and Ultra Gas & Energy. Blue Energy Motors leads the manufacturing of India’s first LNG-powered heavy-duty trucks whereas GreenLine is revolutionising the country’s road logistics sector by ensuring the availability of Blue Energy Motors’ ground-breaking fleet of LNG-powered long-haul trucks. Meanwhile, Ultra Gas & Energy is establishing an extensive network of Green Fuel Hubs across the nation to facilitate the efficient distribution of LNG. Metals & Mining Essar has a slew of exciting projects lined up within the Steel Industry. The upcoming Projects are all centered on incorporation of “Green Technologies” which will significantly decarbonise the entire Steel chain. Aligned with Essar’s Green Steel agenda, the group is embarking on a momentous project to establish a 4 milliontonne Integrated Steel Plant (ISP) in Ras Al-Khair, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), marking a significant step towards the future of environmentally sustainable steel production. Essar is also working on setting up a 14-MTPA Iron Ore Pellet project in Odisha, India, which will cater to the rising steel demand. It will deliver high quality pellets of DR and BF grade. Also, part of this vertical is Mesabi Metallics, an advanced 7 MTPA iron ore mining and pelletisation project in Northern Minnesota, USA, leveraging on proven iron ore reserves in North America, and stimulating industry’s transformation to green steel Technology & Retail In the technology and retail vertical, Essar, through its investments in Black Box, has business interests in digital solutions and customer experience platforms in India, Europe and USA. The company is one of the fastest growing global technology solutions integrator with strong presence across 35+ countries in 6 continents. Pluckk, which also forms part of this vertical, is a digitally integrated platform selling fresh fruits & vegetables is transforming the F&V industry and experiencing a growing rate of 4X. Through investments in green technologies, sustainable mining practices, and transformative projects, Essar not only aims to contribute significantly to India’s decarbonisation agenda but also emerge as a beacon of hope for other industries seeking to follow a similar path. • Stanlow Refinery, United Kingdom Salaya Port Prashant Ruia Director, Essar Capital
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