Green Ammonia Push Gets ADB and Japan Backing for Renewable Energy Plant

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Japan have signed financing agreements with AM Green Ammonia (India) Private Limited to help build one of the world’s largest renewable-powered ammonia plants.

Ammonia rarely gets much attention outside farming and industry, though it makes the fertilizer that helps feed the world. A project in India could change how this essential ingredient is produced, replacing natural gas with renewable energy at a scale large enough to matter beyond the country's borders.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Japan have signed financing agreements with AM Green Ammonia (India) Private Limited to help build one of the world's largest renewable-powered ammonia plants. The project marks the first investment under their Action for Creating Energy Security for Long-term Resilience initiative, known as ACCEL, and allows India to develop a new export industry built around cleaner production.

An Existing Fertilizer Plant Gets a New Role

The project will convert a former ammonia and urea plant that relied on natural gas into a facility producing green ammonia using renewable energy. Its planned capacity is about 1.1 million tons a year, bringing substantial production potential to an industry facing pressure to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

The change matters because ammonia is an essential ingredient in fertilizer and has wider industrial uses, making its production methods part of the environmental footprint of products people depend on every day. Switching the plant's energy source offers a way to reduce emissions from manufacturing without abandoning production of that essential ingredient.

"Ammonia is used every day to produce the fertilizer that helps feed the world," said ADB President Masato Kanda. "This project changes how we make it."

Kanda said renewable energy would allow India to produce ammonia with far lower emissions, with the project's scale offering the potential to reshape the industry. He described the investment as an example of how ADB and Japan can turn energy security commitments into practical support for new markets and jobs.

Japan's Funding Supports Cleaner Production and Energy Security

The investment includes a $100 million loan from the Leading Asia's Private Infrastructure Fund 2, which is financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and administered by ADB.

For India, the project supports the development of a green ammonia export industry alongside cleaner production of a material needed by agriculture and industry. For Japan and ADB, it represents a concrete investment in diversifying the energy sources that businesses across Asia depend on.

Japan's Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama welcomed the first joint project under ACCEL, linking it to Japan's broader POWERR Asia efforts.

"Strengthening resilience of Asia's energy supply chains is essential," Katayama said. She said Japan would continue working closely with ADB to support energy diversification and strengthen economic resilience across the region.

ACCEL Connects Immediate Business Needs With Longer-Term Change

Launched by ADB and Japan in May 2026, ACCEL was created to help countries and businesses across Asia and the Pacific manage rising energy prices and build stronger energy systems.

Short-term support focuses on corporate liquidity, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises that need access to money to keep operating. Medium- to long-term support backs a shift toward more diversified and sustainable energy systems, including investments such as renewable-powered ammonia production.

Japan supports the initiative through trust funds it finances and ADB administers, together with collaboration involving Japanese development finance institutions, including JICA and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

The AM Green Ammonia project gives that approach a physical starting point: an existing industrial site in India set to move from natural gas-based production to renewable energy, with the capacity to supply cleaner ammonia on a major scale.