National Green Hydrogen Mission has potential to attract Rs 8 lakh cr in investments: Joshi

New Delhi: India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission has the potential to attract Rs 8 lakh crore in investments, generate 6 lakh jobs and reduce reliance on natural gas and ammonia imports, leading to savings of Rs 1 lakh crore, said Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday. Speaking at the inaugural session of the International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH-2024), Joshi said, “With the National Green Hydrogen Mission and the SIGHT programme, India has already made a big foray into the Green Hydrogen sector.”

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“We understand that for India, the real promise of Green Hydrogen lies in its ability to support the nation in becoming Aatmanirbhar in the energy sector by providing economically affordable and less volatile sources of Hydrogen for the industry that currently use Grey Hydrogen from natural gas,” said Joshi.

‘Products of Green Hydrogen will be in high demand for several decades’

Stressing that with the policy initiatives in the Green Hydrogen sector, India is aiming to position itself as the a global hub for production, utilisation and export of the green fuel, the minister said, “Products of Green Hydrogen will be in high demand throughout the next several decades, with Europe requiring 10 MMTPA by 2030, Japan 2 MMTPA and South Korea 2 MMTPA.”

Alluding to the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the minister averred that NGHM was launched with the goal of positioning India as a key player in this emerging sector, ensuring both energy self-reliance and economic growth. “As we move forward, our efforts will also contribute to reducing carbon emissions by 5 MMT by 2030, positioning India as a beacon of sustainable development on the global stage,” he said.

Ultimate success of Green Hydrogen will be facilitated by refineries: Puri

Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri placed emphasis on the role refineries would play in speeding up the adoption of Green Hydrogen in the domestic market in India. “The ultimate success of Green Hydrogen will be greatly facilitated when our refineries start using the fuel. The scale at which our refineries will utilise and contribute to Green Hydrogen will have a great impact on the overall scale of deployment. Since the gas does not lend itself to transportation, it is very important that we have local demand, local production and local consumption. In addition, there is also the need to export derivatives like Green Ammonia. Our import targets are contributing to that,” said the minister. Around 54 percent of Hydrogen produced in India currently is utilised in the petroleum refining sector.

“India’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 involves a multifaceted approach, including a significant focus on green hydrogen. Our goal of producing 5 million metric tons of green hydrogen by 2030 is a critical step in decarbonising our economy,” he added.

Bhupinder S Bhalla, the Secretary for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, highlighted Green Hydrogen’s role as a clean energy source with zero CO2 emissions and its diverse applications across multiple sectors and discussed the budget allocated for pilot projects in the transportation and shipping sectors, the creation of green hydrogen hubs, research and development, skill development, as well as components like storage and transportation. Prof Ajay K Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, shared insights on the role of scientific research in advancing green hydrogen technology.

The opening day of ICGH-2024 witnessed total 17 sessions including 2 plenaries, 12 simultaneous discourse covering renewable energy integration; innovative application of Green Hydrogen in sectors including defence, transport, steel, shipping and aviation. The conference will go on for two more days until September 13.

In addition to the keynotes, the day witnessed the CEO Roundtable, which brought together industry leaders from the energy, manufacturing, and transportation sectors. The roundtable provided a platform for discussions on strategic investments and partnerships needed to accelerate the adoption of green hydrogen technologies.

Over 100 stalls from industry players and public companies are showcasing latest technologies and innovation in the field of green hydrogen value chain. The event is graced by over 2,000 national and international delegates involving academicians, industry experts start-ups, policy makers and diplomats.

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