Mahanagar Gas (MGL), the Mumbai-based natural gas distribution company, has announced a diversification plan involving an investment of Rs 1,500 crore in clean energy ventures.

The company will establish a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing unit and a compressed biogas (CBG) production facility to reduce reliance on CNG, which currently accounts for nearly 70 percent of its revenue. As part of this initiative, MGL has formed a joint venture with US-based International Battery Company (IBC) to set up a giga factory in Karnataka. The factory, which will initially produce prismatic NMC lithium-ion battery cells, will have an initial capacity of one GWh, with the potential to expand to five GWh.

The joint venture is owned 56 percent by IBC and 44 percent by MGL, and the total investment in the battery project is around Rs 825 crore. Construction is expected to begin later this quarter. Separately, MGL has signed an agreement with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to build a 1,000 tonne per day (TPD) compressed biogas plant in Maharashtra at an investment of Rs 500 crore. The plant will process food and vegetable waste supplied by BMC.