• Dr Ramakumar said that Indian Oil is currently working on several production pathways, as far as hydrogen is concerned

• Indian Oil working on not only green Hydrogen, but blue Hydrogen production pathways as well, said the top official

New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which is India's largest producer of Hydrogen, is hopeful about bringing down the cost of green Hydrogen to around Rs 150/Kg (US$2/Kg), said Indian Oil Director (R&D) SSV Ramakumar. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Dr Ramakumar said that IOC has recently entered a collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, for biomass gasification. "Very recently, we have entered into a collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, to gasify biomass. And we are hopeful that this pathway is really going to bring down the production cost of green Hydrogen to around Rs 150," said the Director (R&D).

'Indian Oil working on several Hydrogen production pathways'

Dr Ramakumar said that Indian Oil is currently working on several production pathways, as far as hydrogen is concerned. "They include not only green Hydrogen, but blue Hydrogen production pathways as well. We are the largest producers of Hydrogen otherwise, but that is termed as grey as it comes mainly from fossilised sources." 

"We are working on electrolysis routes, and photo-electro chemical water splitting as well as biomass gasification to produce green hydrogen," said the top official.

ALSO READ: Indian Oil inks MoU with IISc-Bangalore for hydrogen generation from biomass gasification

The backdrop

Indian Oil inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, on October 30 to develop and demonstrate biomass gasification-based hydrogen generation technology. "This process will help produce fuel cell grade hydrogen at an affordable price and accelerate Indian Oil's journey towards a sustainable hydrogen economy," Indian Oil said at the time. Under the MoU, Indian Oil and IISc will jointly work for the optimisation of both biomass gasification and hydrogen purification processes. The technology will be scaled-up and demonstrated at Indian Oil's R&D Center at Faridabad. The Hydrogen generated from the plant is to be used in fuel cell buses as part of the corporation's larger aspiration to usher in hydrogen economy in the country.

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