The central government is considering using 2000 megawatt solar and wind power capacity for the purpose of producing hydrogen.

Moreover, hydrogen auctions will also be conducted to cut down greenhouse gas emissions as industries will be encouraged to use the technology to store electricity and also prospectively operate vehicles.

Businesses such as the fertilizer and petroleum refineries will also be mandated to buy 10 per cent of their requirements of hydrogen from domestic sources of green hydrogen.

Already, the ‘National Hydrogen Energy Mission’ is in the works in order to build a value-chain for the chemical element in the country and also to reduce its production costs.

However, certain analysts have cautioned against financially burdening user industries by compelling them to buy green hydrogen.

Senior program lead at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) told the Financial Express, “We should be looking at niche applications such as sustainable aviation fuels from green hydrogen where the market, mostly international, is able to absorb the premium costs.”

He added, “With the rising pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on developed countries, export markets such Japan and Korea, where renewable energy resources are limited, can be early markets for green hydrogen offtake.”

Meanwhile, state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) has signed a MoU with Siemens to use the company’s renewable energy plants to produce green hydrogen.

Similarly, the Indian Oil Corporation will establish a plant with a capacity to produce one tonne of the same on a daily basis.

It will also operate 15 hydrogen fuel cell busses in Delhi-NCR as Reliance Industries gears up to full stack electrolyser and fuel cell solutions in the country that will come into use in running vehicles having hydrogen fuel cells.