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Geothermal energy
India has drilled its first geothermal wells. In July 2026 the ONGC Energy Centre, set up by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, commissioned two at Puga Valley in Ladakh, to test whether the reservoir beneath can carry a 1 MW demonstration power project. A national policy for the sector has been in place since 2025. Nothing generates yet: the wells are an assessment, not a plant.
How a geothermal well works
Heat
Radioactive decay of uranium, thorium and potassium, and heat left from the Earth's formation
Reservoir
Where faults let hot material rise, hot water and steam collect in permeable rock
Power
Wells bring it up to drive a turbine, with no fuel burnt
- Unlike solar and wind, geothermal power is available round the clock.
The policy
- The National Policy on Geothermal Energy of 2025 has the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy as its nodal ministry.
- It covers exploration, direct use, ground source heat pumps and the repurposing of abandoned oil and gas wells.
What has happened
4 Sep 2026
The ONGC Energy Centre commissioned India's first two geothermal wells, at Puga Valley in Ladakh, drilled in July 2026.
- They are assessment wells: they will evaluate the reservoir for India's first 1 MW demonstration geothermal power project.