Hydrogen mission to push India towards decarbonisation: Amitabh Kant

The Centre's 'Hydrogen Mission' aims to push India towards decarbonising in sectors like refineries, fertilizer, long-distance transport, and will make India the cheapest producer and exporter of green hydrogen and the cheapest manufacturer of electrolyzers, said Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa on the Inaugural day of India Energy Week here.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Kant said India is making a very major energy transition and is the only country which was able to achieve its NDC targets nine years ahead of schedule. It has lived up to every single commitment. The country has positioned itself for several things, one of which is the green hydrogen strategy.

"Government has recently announced a major green hydrogen mission, which aims to push India towards decarbonising all it's hard to abate sectors like refineries, fertiliser, long distance transport. So that's a very key program that India will be the cheapest producer exporter of green hydrogen and the cheapest manufacturer of electrolyzer," said Kant.

G20 Sherpa said India's climatically blessed, it is using its renewable energy to become a global champion in green hydrogen. It is also working on electric mobility as two wheelers, three wheelers and four wheeler would require batteries, he said, adding that a major progress has been made towards 100 per cent electrification of two-wheelers and three-wheelers.

"The market is now taking over, and I'm quite sure that in the next five years, India will be 100 percent electric as far as two wheelers and three wheelers are concerned. That is the big story of India that India has really, really pushed for behavioral change," Kant said.

On the thread initiative e20, he said the uniform made with plastic bottle waste and solar cooking system are all pathbreaking initiatives to harness the solar strength of the country.

"We've been able to provide LPG connections to every single woman of India and change her life. Women-led development is a very major focus during our G20 presidency, and that is what we are driving at," he said.

Taking about the G20 events, he said, "We ran a number of 20 events both on the Sherpa track and the finance track. These events have gone on very well. They are being held in different parts of the country. A lot of issue notes are being discussed. We are taking them forward. India's holding 215 events in 56 cities of India. So every single city has been transformed. We are asking the states to brand themselves as centres for great culture, great handicraft, and that is what our objective is."

Calling the Union Budget 2023 pathbreaking, Kant said, "It's futuristic, it's capex driven. It's vetted with a lot of financial discipline, I think it is one of the finest Budgets I've seen in my life," he said.