TP Saurya Bandita, a Tata Power Renewable Energy subsidiary, will build a 40 MW captive solar project for the industrial and medical gases producer Inox Air Products to provide electricity to its air separation units in Dhule, Maharashtra.

The project will help INOX reduce its carbon footprint by 48,000 tons annually.

Commercial and Industrial units have been increasingly adopting captive or group captive modes of sourcing renewable energy through open access as it provides them cheaper power compared to the traditional suppliers, the state-run distribution companies. It also allows the companies to meet environmental, social, and governance goals.

Recently, Airtel’s subsidiary raised its stake in a renewable developer’s special purpose vehicle to use the project as a captive facility. Regulations mandate that the procurer corporate entity must own at least 26% of the power producer for captive use.

India added 2.5 GW of open access solar in calendar year 2022, an increase of around 92% compared to the 1.3 GW installed in 2021, the highest ever annual installations, according to the report 2022 Q4 & Annual Mercom India Solar Open Access Market Report.

“Running our operations sustainably and responsibly has always been a top priority at INOXAP. This is a significant step towards our long-term strategy to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels and lower our carbon footprint by 48,000 tons. We have always endeavored to live our vision through our business strategy and efforts to protect the environment and ensure a greener future, which has inspired us to make Green Industrial Gases. We look forward to making the most of this association and fetching maximum benefits for the environment and our stakeholders,” said Siddharth Jain, Managing Director of INOX Air Products.

Tata Renewable’s total renewable utility capacity is 6,503 MW, including 2,594 MW projects under various stages of implementation, and its operational capacity is 3,909 MW, which includes 2,981 MW solar and 928 MW wind. The company’s solar EPC portfolio is more than 11.5GW of ground-mount utility-scale, over 1.3 GW of rooftop and distributed ground-mounted systems, and over 95,000 solar water pumps.