Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Ashok Leyland on Monday (6 February) unveiled India’s first Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2-ICE) powered heavy duty truck.

The vehicle was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (6 February) in Bengaluru at the India Energy Week.

Ashok Leyland, the Indian flagship company of the Hinduja Group and one of India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, along with RIL, has been developing this unique technology over the past year and has been under test since August 2022, the company said in a release.

The Ashok Leyland H2-ICE heavy-duty truck range (19-35 tonne) is powered by Hydrogen, a renewable and clean energy source, maintaining overall architecture similar to a conventional diesel-based combustion engine thus helping quicker migration to cleaner energy sources at relatively lower cost delta.

“Ashok Leyland has always been a pioneer in introducing state-of-the-art technologies in the commercial vehicle space. Working with RIL, we have once again demonstrated our technological leadership and our commitment to the Clean Mobility Mission," said Dr N Saravanan, president and chief technology officer, Ashok Leyland.

"Having one of the best R&D teams in the country, we want to continue our path to innovate and leverage new technologies to be a leader in sustainable and environment friendly mobility. Our aim is to make India’s alternate fuel segment self-reliant and be one of the flag bearers of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ campaign," Saravanan added.