IIT Bombay–NTPC Drill India’s First Geological CO₂ Storage Well

MUMBAI. IIT Bombay and NTPC have achieved a major milestone in India’s carbon
capture efforts by successfully drilling the country’s first geological CO₂ storage well
at Pakri Barwadih in Jharkhand. The collaboration, initiated under NITI Aayog in
November 2022, has also led to the creation of India’s first geological CO₂ storage
atlas, assessing storage feasibility across four major coalfields. The first well was
drilled to a depth of 1,200 metres and completed on November 15, 2022, while
drilling of a second well commenced on December 21, 2022, marking progress
toward field-level deployment of carbon storage technologies.
Highlighting the significance of the achievement, Dr. V.K. Saraswat underlined the
role of carbon capture, utilization, and storage in meeting India’s net-zero targets,
stressing the importance of accurate subsurface characterization and monitoring.
NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh described the project as a
key step in India’s decarbonization journey, while IIT Bombay Director Prof.
Shireesh Kedare emphasized the value of translational research in enabling the
energy transition. Initial studies indicate high CO₂ storage potential in the North
Karanpura coalfield, particularly the Pakri-Barwadih block, with the capacity to
inject up to 15.5 million tonnes over a decade, supporting India’s broader mission
to scale up CCUS technologies through multi-ministerial collaboration.