Aequs SEZ nears 100% green power, emerges as sustainable manufacturing model

Belagavi: India’s first notified precision engineering and aerospace cluster, the Aequs SEZ, has emerged as one of the country’s most advanced green manufacturing ecosystems, utilising close to 100% renewable energy and setting a benchmark for sustainable industrial infrastructure.

Also referred to as the Belagavi Aerospace Cluster (BAC), the SEZ meets the energy needs of units located at the over 250-acre campus through a combination of rooftop solar installations, open-access renewable energy sourced from third-party providers and green power supplied by the state electricity board.

Thanks to this integrated energy framework, BAC is among the very few industrial manufacturing clusters in India to have come close to a complete green energy transition at scale.

Shyam Kalyanasundaram, CEO of Aequs Infra, said, “At Aequs Infra, sustainability is embedded in the way we design and operate industrial ecosystems. The Aequs SEZ at Belagavi demonstrates how large-scale manufacturing can successfully integrate renewable energy while delivering reliability, operational efficiency and cost competitiveness to customers. As one of the few industrial clusters in the country to have achieved renewable energy adoption at this scale, we believe this model can serve as a blueprint for future-ready industrial infrastructure in India.”

Marking the milestone with employees and customers on the occasion of World Environment Day, he added that such events are a reminder that sustainability must move beyond intent and translate into measurable action.

The licensed power distribution network within the BAC campus ensures efficient and reliable energy delivery to the 35-plus customers at the facility, including multinational and Indian companies catering to some of the biggest names in the global aerospace industry. This integrated infrastructure not only reduces the carbon footprint of operations but also delivers operational efficiencies and cost savings of over 30% to units operating within the cluster.

Further, the BAC’s ecosystem model covers the entire manufacturing value chain from raw materials to finished products within a single location, making it highly sustainable by reducing the distance travelled by aerospace parts from about 5,000 km to under 500 metres. This integrated approach lowers the carbon footprint per part, making BAC unique among aerospace facilities worldwide.

Aequs Infra has adopted a similar approach at its other industrial clusters in Hubballi and Koppal, where it operates India’s first durable goods cluster and toy cluster, respectively.