Ladakh Gets India's First Geothermal Wells, Paving Way for Clean Energy
SRINAGAR: In a significant step toward India's clean energy goals, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh V K Saxena commissioned the country's first and deepest geothermal wells at Puga valley on Friday. The two wells, each 1,000 metres deep, were drilled by the ONGC Energy Centre at an altitude of over 14,000 feet.
“What has been achieved in Puga valley would serve as a blueprint for India's net-zero journey and significantly contribute towards making Ladakh a carbon-neutral and environmentally sustainable region,” Saxena said.
The wells are critical for the successful implementation of the 1MW pilot geothermal power project at Puga, which will be India’s first demonstration-scale geothermal power project, officials said. Project engineers reported that a maximum temperature of 135 degrees Celsius was recorded at a depth of 400 metres. Further testing is underway to achieve higher temperatures necessary for commercial exploration.
Despite encountering complex subsurface conditions and operational challenges, the first well was successfully drilled to its target depth on May 22, 2026. The second well was spudded on June 3 and completed to 1,000 metres on July 8, setting a record time of just over a month.
The project had faced a setback due to the expiry of a tripartite memorandum of understanding between the Ladakh administration, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh, and the ONGC Energy Centre. Lieutenant Governor Saxena intervened to facilitate the renewal of the MoU for another five years, after which work resumed.
