NEW DELHI, June 6 (Reuters) – Renewable energy firm ACME Group will invest 520 billion rupees ($6.70 billion) in India’s southern Karnataka state over five years to set up a green hydrogen and ammonia plant, the state government said on Monday.

The investment comes as India aims to manufacture five million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030 to meet its climate targets and become a production and export centre for the fuel.

The green hydrogen and ammonia plant, which will create about 2,000 jobs, will have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes per annum. It will also have a solar power unit attached.

Green hydrogen, produced using renewable energy, has some of the best environmental credentials among cleaner-burning fuels. The zero-carbon fuel is made using renewable power from wind or solar sources to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

While green hydrogen is not currently made in India on a commercial scale, Indian businessmen Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani have announced plans to produce it.

Earlier in May, Karnataka signed a $6.4 billion agreement with U.S.-listed ReNew Power over a 7-year period on energy projects in the state.

India, with a population more than three times larger than the European Union, has a much lower per capita energy consumption, but among the fastest rates of energy demand growth in the world. ($1 = 77.6200 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in New Delhi, Editing by Louise Heavens) ((munsif.vengattil@thomsonreuters.com;)) Keywords: INDIA HYDROGEN/ACME (PIX)

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