Project InnerSpace report highlights pathway for geothermal growth in India
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A new report published by Project InnerSpace highlights the opportunities for geothermal in India for cooling, industrial heat, and electricity generation.
Project InnerSpace, in partnership with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), has launched a new report that highlights the huge potential for geothermal development in India in the sectors of heating, cooling, and electricity generation, as well as the pathways for the country to build on this potential.
The report, titled The Future of Geothermal in India, positions geothermal energy as a scalable and reliable clean energy solution that could help India address rapidly rising energy demand, industrial decarbonization, and increasing cooling requirements driven by urbanization and climate change.
Among the highlights of the report are the potential numbers based on calculations done by the authors:
- More 1500 GW of technical potential for geothermal cooling (down to 3.5 km) which can cut electricity use by 30%-40%
- Over 11,000 GW of industrial heat technical potential for geothermal resources to a depth of 3.5 kilometers and a cut-off temperature of 100 °C
- 450 GW of technical potential for geothermal electricity generation, to a depth of 5 kilometers
“Geothermal is a massive and untapped energy opportunity for India — with industrial heat and cooling as low hanging fruit ready to economically deploy today,” said Jamie Beard, Executive Director of Project InnerSpace. “With rising demand due to economic growth, and the potential for continued energy supply disruptions, there are few energy sources that offer the local and resilient abundance of geothermal energy.”
“Diversity is an essential attribute of every energy system,” said Karthik Ganesan, Fellow and Director — Strategic Partnerships of CEEW. “As India’s energy supply shifts towards clean sources, this diversity will have to be met through newer technologies and geothermal is that ubiquitous source that guarantees energy security, with little environmental footprint and not affected by the vagaries of short-term weather and long-term climatic changes.”
Ongoing efforts for geothermal in India
Project InnerSpace has already been working to highlight India’s geothermal opportunities through its GeoMap India platform, launched in late 2024. The platform combines more than 175 subsurface and surface datasets to identify favorable regions for geothermal heating, cooling, and power generation development. GeoMap India also identified industrial clusters, data center opportunities, and coal-fired power plants that may be suitable for geothermal retrofits or repurposing.
India’s geothermal development has largely focused on direct-use applications and exploratory activities rather than commercial-scale electricity generation. In late 2025, Project InnerSpace announced funding support for the Tapri Geothermal Cold Storage Project in Himachal Pradesh under its GeoFund program. The project, located in the Kinnaur District, aims to demonstrate geothermal-powered cold storage systems that can support local agriculture and reduce post-harvest losses.
The pilot project is being implemented by Icelandic company Geotropy ehf. and represents the inaugural project under Project InnerSpace’s Geothermal Exponential Opportunities Fund (GeoFund). The initiative seeks to support first-of-a-kind geothermal pilot projects with strong replication potential in emerging markets.
Commercial geothermal power generation is yet to be established in India, but the best-known region for high-temperature geothermal valley is in Puga Valley in Ladakh. Back in 2022, the Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC) started drilling a geothermal well in Puga Valley but encountered unexpectedly high pressures and temperatures at relatively shallow temperatures. This set back the project significantly, with the resumption of drilling activities announced around 2 years after. Despite repeated pronouncements from ONGC that drilling of the well is almost complete, there have been no substantial updates on the progress of the project.
Policy work and recommendations
In 2025, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) published India’s first national policy on geothermal energy, providing an initial framework for geothermal exploration and development. To supplement this, the Project InnerSpace report makes a number of policy recommendations geared towards providing targeted financial incentives and mobilizing pilot projects:
- Establishing national goals and launch a national geothermal cooling mission inside India’s Cooling Action Plan—targeting 10 GW of cooling, 50 GW of industrial direct use, and 10 GW of electricity by 2050.
- Implementing the 2025 National Policy on Geothermal Energy through clear rules, timelines, and transparent permitting.
- De-risking investment via financial incentives, such as covering about 50% of exploration costs and around 30% of development costs.
An opportunity amidst rising energy demand
According to the report, the peak electricity demand in some regions in India is rising by between 8% to 10% per year. Electricity demand spikes by up to 10% during severe heat waves, with air-conditioning contributing to much of this electricity use.
There is also an opportunity to tap into more renewable energies for the thermal energy demand of India. While more than half of the total energy capacity of India is already supplied by wind and solar, industry and process heat remains fuel-based. Coal accounts for more than 90% of the fossil fuel use in India.
Geothermal is a solution worth considering because it can supply a variety of energy needs – industrial heat, district heating and cooling, and agricultural processing to electricity generation in select high-temperature zones. By embracing this opportunity, India can make geothermal energy a cornerstone of its clean energy transition.
Source: Project InnerSpace
