India’s Ammonia Industry: Balancing Growth with Sustainability

05 June 2025, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

India, due to its agriculture-intensive economy, is a large consumer of nitrogen fertilisers. India’s domestic ammonia manufacturing capacity is about 19 MMT today. The expansion of India’s economy and the growing per capita income are likely to increase the demand for food grains, which in turn, will increase the demand for ammonia. This study explores the growth of Indian ammonia production capacity on a decadal time scale, 2030-2070. The scope 1 and 2 emission intensities of India’s ammonia production are estimated using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach under a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario. It is found that total emissions from ammonia manufacturing in India are likely to increase from 145 MMT in 2030 to about 540 MMT by 2070 without any abatement. Several technology interventions for emission reduction have been considered, and their impact on emission reduction has been estimated. These interventions are: in situ carbon capture, alkaline water electrolysis (AWE), methane pyrolysis (MP), and energy decarbonisation. These interventions, when implemented, have the potential to significantly reduce emissions by 87 % compared to the BAU scenario. The analysis points out the critical role of low-carbon intensity hydrogen, carbon capture technologies and the availability of renewable energy. The analysis presented in this study will provide valuable insights to both policymakers and industry and provide a roadmap to mitigate the negative impacts of GHG emissions and promote the sustainable growth of the ammonia manufacturing industry in India.

Keywords

India’s Ammonia Industry
Sustainability Challenges
Life Cycle Assessment
Impact Analysis
Decarbonisation
Technology Interventions

Supplementary materials

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Description
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Title
Supplementary File
Description
This supplementary file provides an in-depth techno-environmental analysis of ammonia production in India, focusing on conventional (Steam Methane Reforming and Haber-Bosch) and emerging (Alkaline Water Electrolysis and Methane Pyrolysis) technologies. It includes detailed process descriptions, system boundaries, inventory data, process flow diagrams, Sankey diagrams, and life cycle impact assessments (LCIA) under various decarbonization scenarios (BAU, CCUS, and RE) up to the year 2070. The document also features spatial mapping of existing ammonia plants in India and a comprehensive comparison of environmental impacts using IMPACT 2002+ midpoint categories for different ammonia production routes.
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