Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said JERA Co Inc, Japan’s largest power generation company, has expressed a strong desire to explore investment and partnership opportunities with the state government in areas of green hydrogen, ammonia, Renewable Energy and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The deputy CM, who is on a visit to Japan, said Dr Masafumi Mori, also a special advisor to the Prime Minister of Japan, promised his government’s support to the Versova-Virar Sea Link (VVSL), a big-ticket infrastructure project in the Mumbai region.
Fadnavis said, “Senior officials of the Maharashtra government made a presentation on green hydrogen policy of the state. Maharashtra is the first state to come up with a revolutionary green hydrogen policy which has captured the attention of many companies.” “JERA officials expressed a strong desire to explore investment and partnership with the state government in areas of green hydrogen and ammonia, renewable energy an LNG. This was in line with the company’s vision to achieve zero CO2 emissions by 2050, said the deputy CM in a social media post on the fourth day of his five-day visit to the Asian economic powerhouse.
JERA’s investment interest in India further aids Maharashtra’s and eventually the country’s target to cut its emissions to net zero by 2070, he said.
Fadnavis along with state government officials held a meeting with JERA’s senior management executives in Tokyo.
JERA was created through the consolidation of the fuel and thermal power departments of the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Chubu Electric Power Company.
The company has total assets of JPY 8.7 trillion (USD 60 billion) and is the top power generator in Japan with an installed capacity of more than 70 GW.
Fadnavis said Dr Mori, special advisor to the Japanese PM, has promised his government’s support to the VVSL, whose construction has been approved by the state government, but the actual work is yet to start.
“Dr ori was amazed by the Government of Maharashtra’s vision and scale of planning of the Versova Virar Sea Link (VVSL) project and promised support of Government of Japan to this project,” he said in another social media post.
The Japanese PM’s advisor also assured full cooperation to the Mumbai Flood Mitigation Project that will improve the quality of life of Mumbaikars during the monsoon and prevent damage, Fadnavis added.
“I am happy to share that the special advisor to the PM of Japan also expressed intention to support the Mumbai Metro Line 11 (Wadala to CSMT – 12.7 Km),” said the deputy chief minister.
Fadnavis later held a meeting with top officials of NTT Data, one of the largest digital consulting and IT services providing companies.
“The NTT Data has already invested close to USD 2 billion in Maharashtra and it is looking to double it. The investment will come in the form of data centres, submarine cables, renewable energy plants and delivery centres,” he said.
