National green hydrogen mission approved

The Union Cabinet approved the ₹19,744-crore National Green Hydrogen Mission with an objective to become a major exporter in the field and make India a global hub for the production, utilisation, and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives.

The development will help India, one of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters, achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.

The initial outlay for the mission is kept at ₹19,744 crore. Out of this, the government has allocated ₹17,490 crore for the SIGHT programme, ₹1,466 for the upcoming pilot projects, ₹400 crore for R&D, and ₹388 crore towards other mission components.

The Centre expects the investments plan, totalling ₹8 lakh crore in the green hydrogen sector.

The incentive aims to make green hydrogen affordable and bring down its cost over the next five years, the minister said.

MNRE or the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will formulate the scheme guidelines for its implementation.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission will go a long way in government efforts toward building the renewable energy capacity of the country. The mission is expected to add about 125 GW of renewable energy capacity to the country. The addition will help to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel imports and through the mission, the government aims to reduce fuel imports by over ₹1 lakh crore.

The main objective of the government is to develop a green hydrogen capacity of at least 5 MMT (million metric tonnes) per annum. The Union government also expects creation of more than 6 lakh jobs in the sector.

In line with our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets the government is looking at reducing 50 MMT of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

According to the government, there are many benefits of the National Green Hydrogen Mission including the creation of export opportunities for green hydrogen and its derivatives, decarbonization of industrial, mobility, and energy sectors, reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels and feedstock, development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities, development of cutting-edge technology and creation of employment opportunities in the energy sector.