India is planning a $2 billion incentive programme for the green hydrogen industry in a bid to cut emissions and become a major export player in the field. The $2.2 billion incentive aims to reduce the production cost of green hydrogen by a fifth over the next five years, said a senior government official and an industry manager working in renewable energy. It would do this in part by increasing the scale of the industry, they said. The current cost in India is Rs300- Rs400 per kg, said the manager. The US and the European Union have already approved incentives worth billions of dollars for green hydrogen projects. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel. It is made by splitting water with an electrical process, electrolysis. If the devices that do that, electrolysers, are powered by renewable energy, the product is called green hydrogen, a fuel free of greenhouse emissions. The aid could be announced in the 1 February budget for the fiscal year beginning 1April, said the government official. Companies such as Reliance Industries, Indian Oil, NTPC, Adani Enterprises, JSW Energy and Acme Solar have big plans for green hydrogen. Adani said in June that it and France’s TotalEnergies would jointly create the “world’s largest green hydrogen ecosystem”. Green ammonia The Indian government expects industry to invest Rs 8 lakh crore in green hydrogen and its derivative green ammonia by 2030, according to the report. Green ammonia is made by combining nitrogen with hydrogen using renewable energy sources; it can be used by the fertiliser industry or as a fuel or convenient means of transporting hydrogen.
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Green hydrogen could become a major export player
