Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) were trading in the red and 2% lower on 10 July despite the company announcing that it would spend more than Rs 2 lakh crore to develop renewable energy projects and green hydrogen plants in an attempt to reach its goal of having net-zero carbon emissions by 2038.

The state-owned company also intends to invest Rs 97,000 crore to construct 5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity, an offshore wind project, a pump storage plant, biogas, and green hydrogen by 2030.

The company released a 200-page document explaining steps and strategies for achieving net zero emissions. The document also listed clean energy projects even though its goal is to enhance its hydrocarbon output to meet India’s energy demands.

The oil and gas company announced its plan to invest Rs 65,500 crore by 2035 for the development of either a green hydrogen or green ammonia plant, and an additional Rs 38,000 crore by 2038 for the creation of 1 GW of offshore wind projects.

These initiatives will enable ONGC to offset approximately 9 million tonnes of carbon emissions for which it is directly or indirectly responsible.

Additionally, the company plans to allocate Rs 5,000 crore to achieve zero gas flaring by 2030 through technological advancements. In the fiscal year 2021-22, ONGC released 554 million cubic metres of methane into the atmosphere, primarily as an incidental by-product of oil production.

At 12:30 pm, the shares of ONGC were trading 1.36% lower at Rs 293.40 on NSE.