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The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has extended the deadline until April 27 for the submission of R&D proposals under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
The R&D scheme seeks to make the production, storage, transportation and utilization of green hydrogen more affordable. It also aims to improve the efficiency, safety and reliability of the relevant processes and technologies involved in the green hydrogen value chain. The scheme also aims to foster partnerships among industry, academia and government to establish an innovation ecosystem for Green Hydrogen technologies. The Scheme will also help the scaling up and commercialization of Green Hydrogen technologies by providing the necessary policy and regulatory support. As mentioned in the Scheme Guidelines, which were issued on March 15, 2024, the R&D Scheme will be implemented with a total budgetary outlay of Rs 400 crores till the financial year 2025-26. The support under the R&D program includes all components of the Green Hydrogen value chain, namely, production, storage, compression, transportation, and utilization. The R&D projects supported under the Mission will be goal-oriented, time-bound, and suitable to be scaled up. In addition to industrial and institutional research, innovative MSMEs and start-ups working on indigenous technology development will also be encouraged under the Scheme. After the issue of the guidelines, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy issued a Call for Proposals on March 16, 2024. While the Call for Proposals is receiving an encouraging response, some stakeholders have requested more time for submission of R&D proposals. In view of such requests and to allow sufficient time to the institutions to submit good-quality proposals, the Ministry has extended the deadline for submission of proposals to April 27, 2024. The National Green Hydrogen Mission was launched on January 4, 2023 with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crores up to the financial year 2029-30. The green hydrogen mission will gradually lead to the decarbonization of industrial, transport, and energy sectors, and a reduction in dependence on imported fossil fuels, among others. India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through imports, and this green hydrogen mission is seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence on imported fuel. Under this mission, the government aims to raise annual green hydrogen production to 5 million tonnes, renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 gigawatts, attract over Rs 8 lakh crore in investments, lakhs of jobs, and most importantly over Rs 1 lakh crore cumulative reduction of fossil fuel imports. (ANI)
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