Granules ties up with Greenko ZeroC for green molecule solutions – EQ Mag
NEW DELHI: In a first for India’s pharmaceutical industry, pharma major Granules India Ltd. has entered a strategic partnership with Greenko Group, backed by GIC Holdings Pte Ltd, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Japan’s ORIX Corp., to collaborate for green molecule solutions and its wider applications in pharmaceuticals to consolidate its position in sustainability and circular economy initiatives.
Granules and Greenko ZeroC will develop and promote integrated green pharmaceutical zones (GPZ) with a first collaboration in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, said a regulatory filing from Granules. The company will build a greenfield facility based on sustainability principles for large scale manufacturing of key starting materials (KSMs), intermediates, APIs and fermentation-based products.
Spread across 100 acre, the factory will be commissioned in a phased manner. The estimated cost of the project is ₹2,000 crore, spread over five years, the filing said.
Under the partnership, Greenko ZeroC will supply carbon free energy and enable green hydrogen along with its various chemical derivatives. Granules envisages to utilise carbon free energy and green hydrogen derivatives to produce value added products such as DCDA, PAP, Paracetamol, Metformin, other APIs and intermediates.
Granules will also manufacture energy intensive fermentation-based products at this facility using carbon free energy and the collaboration allows utilization of Fungible Carbon Offset instruments across Granules global manufacturing locations.
Krishna Prasad, chairman & managing director, Granules India, said: “The partnership with Greenko will power our sustainability journey by minimizing carbon footprint and impact of our operations on the environment. Sustainability and Green chemistry are key pillars of our commitment to heal the planet and people through minimizing carbon footprint, adopting resource efficient processes, and reduce waste across our value chain.”
Commenting on the partnership, Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, CEO and managing director at Greenko, said, “We are excited to be partnering with Granules, this innovative and pioneering partnership will propel the transformation of industrial manufacturing to be more sustainable and competitive with technologically superior and green solutions. We believe that we can herald this change in the Global Industrial landscape and this partnership with Granules is enabling such solutions in pharmaceutical industry.”
He added that such partnerships will enable the government’s vision in terms the global efforts to combat climate change and catalyse India’s and the world’s decarbonization process.
Greenko has been making rapid strides in the green energy segment and newer technologies. Last month, the company said that it has placed the lowest bid for the world’s first and largest technology agnostic energy storage tender floated by power producer NTPC Ltd.
In October, Greenko tied up with Singapore-based conglomerate Keppel Corp to jointly explore setting up a 250,000 tonne green ammonia production facility.
The push for renewable energy comes amid India committing to net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, increasing non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 and reducing carbon intensity of its economy by 45 % as against 2005 level. Further, with the Russia-Ukraine war raising concerns on fossil fuel supplies, the turn towards green molecules have gathered pace.
Source: livemint
