Green hydrogen policy to be announced soon in India

Hardeep Singh Puri, minister of petroleum and natural gas, and housing and urban affairs said that a green hydrogen policy will come sooner than expected as different ministries are involved and the internal churning on the policy is beginning to give it a proper shape.

The minister explained that money is pouring into India from venture capitalists for the production of green hydrogen, which is a positive sign for the economy and the green hydrogen policy.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman first revealed India’s plan to harness green hydrogen in her 2021 budget speech. Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a National Hydrogen Energy Mission in his Independence Day speech in August 2021.

Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy through electrolysis. In the first part of the policy, the ministry waived the power transmission charges for 25 years for these units, allowing them to buy renewable power from exchanges or their own unit.

The companies were also allowed to bank unconsumed renewable power for up to 30 days with power distribution companies and will be provided open access within 15 days of application.

The government is likely to release the second part of the green hydrogen policy sometime in December, senior officials in the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) said on October 11. The second part is expected to detail the economic benefits of manufacturing.