Maruti Suzuki India has announced plans to invest Rs 450 crore over the next three years in renewable energy initiatives, focusing on solar power and biogas. This initiative aims to enhance the company’s environmental sustainability efforts and make its operations more eco-friendly, according to a statement released on Wednesday.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, Maruti Suzuki had already invested Rs 120.8 crore in various renewable energy projects. As part of its renewable energy plan, the automaker has begun operations at its biogas plant located at its Manesar facility. This plant utilizes in-house food waste and Napier grass, aligning with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s ‘Waste to Energy’ program. The learnings from this pilot project will be applied to Maruti Suzuki’s upcoming manufacturing facilities.

Maruti Suzuki aims to double its production capacity to four million units by 2031. The company is currently working on establishing two greenfield manufacturing sites: the first in Kharkhoda, Haryana, and the second in Gujarat.

The pilot biogas plant at Manesar is designed to produce 0.2 tons of biogas daily, with an expected output of about 1 lac standard cubic meters of biogas in the fiscal year 2024-25. This initiative is estimated to offset approximately 190 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The biogas produced will be used to power the manufacturing processes at the Manesar facility, while the residual organic manure will be utilized in horticulture, creating a zero-discharge model.

According to Maruti Suzuki, the biogas plant at Manesar is a significant step towards fostering a cleaner and more sustainable energy landscape within the company and the automotive industry at large. The company emphasized that just as it integrates multiple technologies into its products, it will also focus on leveraging multiple renewable energy sources to green its operations.

Meanwhile, the Japanese carmaker's local arm is scaling up its solar capacity at both the Manesar and Kharkhoda factories. In the fiscal year 2023-24, Maruti Suzuki expanded its solar capacity to 43.2 MWp and plans to further increase this capacity to 78.2 MWp by the fiscal year 2025-26. This expansion is part of the company's commitment to transitioning to green manufacturing practices, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

These investments underscore Maruti Suzuki's commitment to environmental stewardship and its proactive approach to sustainability in the automotive manufacturing sector.

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