Brookfield’s proposed investment of up to $600 million in ACME Cleantech Ventures is more than a large funding commitment to a renewable-energy developer. It is a test of whether India’s green-molecule industry can move beyond individual demonstration projects and become a portfolio-scale business capable of serving domestic and overseas customers.
ACME Group chairman Manoj Kumar Upadhyay told The Hindu BusinessLine that the structured-equity investment would support four projects: Oman Phase 2, two green-ammonia projects in Odisha and a green-methanol project in Odisha. The equity valuation is expected to be decided by the end of 2026, while ACME is expected to retain a significant majority in its projects and business entities.
The significance of the proposed deal lies in its platform-level structure. Unlike conventional project finance, in which capital is tied to one identified asset, a platform investment can support a portfolio of projects at different stages of development. For a sector facing high capital requirements, uncertain offtake and infrastructure constraints, that difference can determine whether a company remains a developer of isolated facilities or becomes an integrated supplier of green molecules.
## Green hydrogen’s bankability problem
The global green-hydrogen sector began with ambitious plans several years ago, but many projects have struggled to reach construction and operation. Upadhyay identified three related obstacles: bankability, long-term offtake and infrastructure. These problems are particularly important for green ammonia and green methanol because the projects require renewable power, electrolysers, conversion facilities, storage, transport links and customers willing to sign long-term contracts.
The challenge is not simply producing a molecule without fossil fuels. Developers must establish that the plant can operate reliably, that the product can reach a buyer, and that the buyer will accept its price and environmental credentials over an extended period. A project can therefore be technically feasible and still remain difficult to finance if its revenue model is uncertain.
India’s policy environment has helped address part of this problem. Upadhyay said the National Green Hydrogen Mission had created policy consistency and increased ACME’s confidence in approaching global customers with solutions from India. He also pointed to the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s green-ammonia tenders as a source of domestic demand.
These interventions do not remove all project risks, but they create an institutional framework in which developers can seek customers and financing with greater clarity. The emerging market is also not limited to India. ACME has a joint venture with Japan’s IHI and is addressing markets including Europe, Korea and Japan, according to Upadhyay.
## From proof of concept to project platform
ACME’s Bikaner facility was presented by Upadhyay as the company’s proof of concept. The plant demonstrated what he described as the complete conversion chain from photon to electron to molecule, as well as the costs involved. That demonstration helped provide customers with confidence that the production model was workable.
The proposed Brookfield investment addresses the next stage: repeating and enlarging the model across multiple locations. ACME will deploy the capital across projects in Oman and Odisha rather than directing it to a single facility. That gives the company a way to build a pipeline while maintaining a majority position in its projects and operating entities.
The distinction matters because green molecules are not produced in a single industrial step. The economics depend on the relationship between renewable-energy resources, electrolysis, chemical conversion, water and other infrastructure, port or logistics access, and the final customer. A portfolio approach can allow developers to select different locations and market arrangements for different products.
Oman is central to ACME’s export strategy. Oman Phase 1 is already fully funded and is almost 90 per cent ready, according to Upadhyay. Commissioning is expected to begin around November or December, with the plant targeted to become operational in March 2027. The project has been delayed by around two to three months because of the war, he said. Once operational, it is expected to provide ACME’s first export of green molecules from Oman to its customer.
## The price question remains decisive
Financing can accelerate construction, but it cannot by itself guarantee a durable market. Green ammonia must ultimately compete on price with conventional, or grey, ammonia. Upadhyay argued that the gap between the two has narrowed substantially and said grey ammonia is currently costlier than green ammonia, citing the rise in gas prices during the Middle East war. Gas is the main raw material for producing grey ammonia.
That comparison points to a central feature of the green-molecule market: its competitiveness is influenced both by the cost of renewable production and by the volatility of fossil-fuel inputs. A higher gas price can improve the relative position of green ammonia, but the long-term viability of the sector cannot depend only on temporary changes in conventional-energy costs.
Upadhyay said customers could not be expected to pay an exorbitant price simply to make the transition from grey to green. In his account, green ammonia must become competitive on its own rather than depend indefinitely on buyers paying a green premium. That places pressure on developers to reduce the cost of renewable electricity, improve technology, choose strong production locations and operate at larger scale.
He compared the ambition with solar power’s transition from expensive megawatt-scale projects to competitive gigawatt-scale deployment. The comparison is not a claim that green ammonia will follow the same timeline or cost curve. It does, however, identify the commercial logic ACME is pursuing: scale can change the industry’s cost structure, but only if projects are bankable and customers are available.
## Odisha connects domestic demand to industrial deployment
The Odisha projects give the proposed investment a domestic industrial dimension. The Paradeep green-ammonia project has an offtake agreement with SECI and is targeted for 2028. The green-methanol project in Odisha is also targeted for 2028. A separate ACME-IHI joint-venture green-ammonia project is expected to become operational in 2029.
These milestones indicate that the company’s strategy is spread across different molecules, locations and customer relationships. Green ammonia can serve fertiliser and other industrial markets, while green methanol creates a separate pathway for using renewable energy to produce a chemical feedstock and fuel. The source material does not establish the final capacity of these projects, but it does show that ACME is building a multi-project pipeline rather than relying on one facility.
The role of SECI is particularly important in this structure. According to Upadhyay, fertiliser companies that were earlier hesitant to enter long-term green-ammonia contracts are now approaching SECI for more tenders. That suggests that public procurement mechanisms can help create demand in a market where private buyers may initially be reluctant to commit to unfamiliar supply arrangements.
Such tenders also connect national policy with industrial execution. The National Green Hydrogen Mission provides the broader policy consistency described by ACME, while SECI’s procurement role can translate that policy into contracts. Developers still have to build plants, secure infrastructure and meet delivery obligations, but the presence of an institutional buyer can improve the visibility needed for financing.
## A test of India’s export ambitions
India’s green-molecule opportunity is being framed simultaneously as a domestic manufacturing opportunity and an export proposition. ACME’s relationship with IHI and its stated focus on Europe, Korea and Japan show how Indian projects are being positioned within international supply chains. Oman adds a production location outside India and an export route for the company.
The proposed deal therefore raises a broader infrastructure question. Green molecules require more than renewable-energy capacity. They need industrial land, conversion plants, storage, transport systems, ports and dependable links between producers and buyers. Delays caused by conflict, as described for the Oman project, also show that geopolitical and logistical conditions can affect delivery timelines even after a project has secured funding.
The project milestones provide the clearest way to assess whether the platform model is producing results. Oman Phase 1 is targeted for operation in March 2027. The Paradeep green-ammonia and Odisha green-methanol projects are targeted for 2028, while the ACME-IHI project is expected in 2029. The equity valuation is expected by the end of 2026.
What the proposed Brookfield investment confirms is the growing effort to build a bankable, multi-project green-molecule business from India. What remains to be established is whether the projects can meet their timelines, whether long-term offtake expands at the required pace, and whether green ammonia and green methanol can remain competitive without permanent price support. Those milestones will determine whether the deal becomes a financing event or a genuine scale-up of India’s clean-industrial infrastructure.
