Green Hydrogen Mission to help India meet net-zero targets: Experts

The National Green Hydrogen Mission is a "significant step" towards achieving the country's net-zero targets and and will help in reducing input costs of clean energy source, besides generating lakhs of job opportunities in the renewable energy sector, experts say.

The Union Cabinet on January 4 approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which aims to make India a global manufacturing hub and a clean source of energy.

The objective of the Mission is also development of a production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonnes) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW in the country by 2030.

"I expect that the emphasis on demand creation, incentives and partnerships will kick-start the green hydrogen industry in the country and enable Indian companies to be on a level footing with the global energy suppliers.

"The industry is ready to support India's clean energy transition," Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO, ReNew Power.

Sinha, who is also the president of industry body Assocham, termed the launch of the mission "a significant step" towards helping India achieve net-zero targets.

Ishver Dholakiya, MD of Goldi Solar said the program will facilitate production, utilisation, and export, along with generation of lakhs of job opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

The incentives will help bring down the cost of input materials like electrolysers, which will help local players to become competitive at the global level, he said.

Girishkumar Kadam, Senior Vice President & Co-Group Head - Corporate Ratings, ICRA Ltd said the round-the-clock procurement of renewable energy at competitive rates remains extremely critical for an improvement in the utilisation of electrolysers.

The timely implementation of the proposed PLI scheme to incentivize/promote the domestic manufacturing of electrolysers will be critical, he said.

Abhay Kumar Singh, ex-CMD of state-owned NHPC, said the cost of per kg hydrogen comes to around USD 3 at present. With the government's ambitious mission it will be less than half in the times to come.

"In April 2022, when I was CMD NHPC, the company had signed an agreement with the Himachal government to develop a pilot green hydrogen mobility project including hydrogen production," he said.

The mission will give a boost to investment sentiments of more and more interest players, Singh said.