India Commissions Its First Two Geothermal Wells at Puga Valley, Ladakh

22 July 2026National

VK Saxena, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, commissioned India's first and deepest two geothermal wells (1,000 m each) at Puga Valley, Ladakh, executed by the ONGC Energy Centre. The wells are critical to a planned 1 MW pilot geothermal power plant at Puga (altitude over 14,000 feet) — India's first demonstration-scale geothermal power project. At 400 m depth, the wells recorded a maximum temperature of 135°C.

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Puga Valley is a well-known geothermal field in Ladakh | ONGC founded: 1956, HQ New Delhi | Geothermal energy is renewable, drawn from the Earth's internal heat | India's first geothermal project site: Puga (Ladakh)

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Ladakh L-G VK Saxena commissioned India's first two 1,000 m geothermal wells at Puga Valley (ONGC), feeding a planned 1 MW pilot geothermal power plant.

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VK Saxena, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, commissioned India's first and deepest two geothermal wells, each 1,000 metres deep, at Puga Valley in Ladakh in July 2026. The wells were executed by the ONGC Energy Centre of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC). Significance: The wells are critical to implementing a 1 Megawatt (MW) Pilot Geothermal Power Plant at Puga Valley, situated at an altitude of over 14,000 feet above sea level. This will be India's first demonstration-scale geothermal power project. Technical findings: At a depth of 400 metres, the wells recorded a maximum temperature of 135 degrees Celsius. Purpose: The pilot will evaluate drilling, fluid behaviour, thermal profiles and energy-conversion mechanisms before full-scale deployment. Successful completion enables reservoir evaluation, power plant planning and eventual commercial development of geothermal resources in Ladakh.

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