By 2030, the National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to achieve a Green Hydrogen production capacity of 5 MMT per annum, contributing to a reduction in India’s reliance on fossil fuel imports

 The National Green Hydrogen Mission, led by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy, has incurred an expenditure of Rs 11 lakh as of the current period, as revealed in Parliament. The mission, sanctioned by the Union Cabinet on 4 January, 2023, with a total allocation of Rs 19,744 crore from 2023–24 to 2029–30, has a revised estimate of Rs 100 crore for the fiscal year 2023–24.

Designed to position India as a global hub for the production, utilisation and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives, the mission has set an ambitious target of achieving a Green Hydrogen production capacity of 5 MMT per annum by 2030. The revised estimates for the mission were Rs 1,00,000 for 2022–23, with no expenditure incurred during that fiscal year. The current revised estimates for 2023–24 stand at Rs 100 crore, and the expenditure to date is Rs 11 lakh.

By 2030, the mission aims to contribute to a significant reduction in India’s reliance on fossil fuel imports, with expected outcomes including a cumulative reduction of Rs 1 lakh crore worth of fossil fuel imports, leveraging over Rs 8 lakh crore in total investments and creating more than 6 lakh jobs. Additionally, the mission anticipates averting nearly 50 MMT per annum of CO2 emissions through the production and use of the targeted quantum of Green Hydrogen.

Regarding the anticipated impact on cost escalation resulting from the implementation of a Uniform Renewable Energy Tariff (URET), Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R K Singh clarified that while the procedure for URET implementation was issued by the Ministry of Power on 25 October, 2023, the actual implementation is yet to commence. Therefore, the government has not conducted any assessment regarding cost escalation at this stage.

In response to another inquiry, Singh disclosed that as of now, 72.02 GW of Solar Power Projects have been installed. Aligning with the Prime Minister’s speech at CoP-26, the government aims to achieve 500 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil fuels by 2030, with a specific focus on solar energy.