The much-anticipated National Green Hydrogen Mission has been approved by the Union Cabinet, with an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore, according to Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur.
The Centre has allocated Rs 17,490 crore of the mission’s budget to incentives for the production of green hydrogen and the manufacture of electrolyzers, dubbed the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Programme (SIGHT). Separately, Rs 1,466 crore will be allocated to pilot projects, Rs 400 crore to R&D and Rs 388 crore to other mission components.
The government intends to create 50 lakh tonne (MMT) of green hydrogen production capacity per year through the Mission until 2029-2030. Additionally, it anticipates that the mission will attract over Rs 8 lakh crore in investment and will create over six lakh jobs.
This move is also expected to save approximately Rs 1 lakh crore in fossil fuel imports, while also reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 50 MMT.
Gautam Mohanka, Managing Director, Gautam Solar, told News18 that this move by the government is laudable and the initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore will boost the production of green hydrogen in India and will eventually help industrial, commercial, and residential sectors.
“Given that we currently import more than 80% of our national oil requirements, green hydrogen along with solar and wind could be the answer to the future, with this initial outlay being projected to curtail fossil fuel imports of over Rs 1 trillion by 2050,” he said.
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According to Mohanka, the SIGHT programme will not only provide a boost to domestic electrolyzer manufacturing, but will also help India meet its target of producing five million metric tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, establishing India as a green hydrogen hub.
The process of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity is known as electrolysis and the reaction takes place in a device known as an electrolyzer.
Mohanka said: “This is our international commitment as well for becoming a zero-emission nation. Hydrogen and Ammonia will help further decrease the use of fossil fuels and are wished to be future fuels and will provide clean air to the future generation.”
He further highlighted that green hydrogen production can rely on electricity generated by solar plants, which benefits the renewable sector in some ways.
“We hope that the government will eventually make it mandatory for select industries to use green hydrogen and solar power to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. We also see this as a prospect for the indigenous production of power components, panels, and parts,” said Mohanka.
Additionally, he said that India’s green hydrogen transformation has a lot of scope in the years to come. While citing The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), he noted that the use of hydrogen in India’s energy mix is projected to grow 3 to 10 times by 2050.
“The solar energy sector in India is looking at green hydrogen, hydrogen produced from renewable energy, including solar power, as one of the biggest growth areas in the expansion of the renewable energy domain,” said Mohanka.
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