Union Minister Pralhad Joshi announced the approval of the first batch of ₹22 crore support to nine startups under the National Green Hydrogen Mission's (NGHM's) ₹100 crore startup support programme. According to reports from Business Standard, this approval was announced during a workshop on NGHM organised by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) on Wednesday. The support represents the initial phase of the mission's startup initiative to accelerate green hydrogen development in India.
During the same workshop, Joshi also launched the Green Hydrogen Certification Portal of India (GHCI) to facilitate certification and regulatory compliance under the Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme of India. As reported by Business Standard, this portal launch is designed to streamline the certification process and ensure proper regulatory framework for green hydrogen projects across the country.
According to MNRE Secretary Santosh Sarangi, six states have notified dedicated green hydrogen policies, while seven others have integrated hydrogen into their existing industrial and renewable energy policy frameworks. As reported by Business Standard, four more states are in the process of finalising their policies. Sarangi emphasized that these states have provided different kinds of facilitation measures for green hydrogen, including capital expenditure subsidies, electricity duty waivers and waivers of wheeling charges.
Sarangi highlighted significant improvements in electricity consumption for hydrogen production technology. According to Business Standard, when alkaline-based electrolyzers were used initially, it required about 55 units of electricity to produce a kg of hydrogen. With proton exchange membrane technology, this consumption has decreased to 46-48 units of electricity. The solid oxide electrolyzer cell technology is expected to further reduce consumption to approximately 38-42 units, potentially going down to even 33 units.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission, launched in 2023, has an outlay of ₹19,744 crore to achieve at least 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen production capacity annually by 2030. As reported by Business Standard, Joshi urged states to expedite the finalisation of their green hydrogen policies, stating that execution and implementation should be expedited to achieve their set ambition, with the government's support for all states.
