Cabinet Approves Rs. 19,744 Cr. for National Green Hydrogen Mission
Union Cabinet, headed by the Indian Prime Minister, has approved an amount of Rs. 19,744 crore for the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM).
NGHM to Incentivise Electrolyser Manufacturing, Pilot Projects and R&D
The total sanctioned amount under the mission covers areas of electrolyser manufacturing, Green Hydrogen generation, supporting pilot projects, and Research and Development (R&D) activities.
Out of the total sanctioned amount, Rs. 17,490 crore has been allotted to the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme. This programme will target domestic production of electrolysers and generation of Green Hydrogen through financial incentives and subsidies.
Further, Rs. 1,466 crore will be used towards supporting Green Hydrogen pilot projects. Those geographical regions which are suitable for large-scale generation of Green Hydrogen will be identified and subsequently developed as Green Hydrogen Hubs under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
For the purpose of R&D, Rs. 400 crore has been chalked out of the total sanctioned amount under the mission. R&D will be executed within a Public-Private-Partnership framework, which has been designated as Strategic Hydrogen Innovation Partnership (SHIP). Other than R&D projects, SHIP will include a skill development programme as one of its components.
The balance Rs. 388 crore will be used towards other components of the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
Vision & Targets of the Green Hydrogen Mission for 2030
NGHM targets to achieve a Green Hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA) by 2030. Since the production of Green Hydrogen involves setting up sources of Renewable Energy (RE), an associated 125 GW capacity addition of RE is also expected as a result of the mission.
Further, since NGHM seeks to encourage transitioning to Hydrogen from the current extensive use of fossil fuels, a reduction of about Rs. 1 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel imports has been envisioned by 2030.
The reduced dependence on fossil fuels will in turn result in an expected 50 MMT of CO2 equivalent per annum reduction in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
Since the National Green Hydrogen Mission will financially incentivise the production of Green Hydrogen and electrolysers, the Government expects investment to the tune of Rs. 8 lakh crore by 2030 and the creation of more than 6 lakh jobs as a result of the mission.
Background of the National Green Hydrogen Mission
NGHM was launched as National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) on 15th August 2021 by the Indian Prime Minister. Subsequently, on 17th February 2022, the Green Hydrogen / Green Ammonia policy was introduced.
Since then, industry majors like Reliance and Adani have announced their commitment to green energy endeavours including Green Hydrogen production. India’s first Green Hydrogen project was commissioned by Oil India Ltd. (OIL) in April 2022 in Jorhat, Assam.
