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As part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government has initiated five pilot projects for using Hydrogen in buses and trucks.
Earlier, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had issued guidelines for implementing Pilot projects in the Transport Sector under this Mission. Accordingly, the proposals were invited for different types of hydrogen-based vehicles, routes, and hydrogen refueling stations. After detailed scrutiny, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has sanctioned five pilot projects, totaling 37 vehicles (buses and trucks) and 9 hydrogen refueling stations. The vehicles that will be deployed for the trial include 15 hydrogen fuel-cell-based vehicles and 22 hydrogen internal combustion engine-based vehicles. These vehicles will run on 10 different routes across the country viz., Greater Noida - Delhi - Agra, Bhubaneshwar - Konark - Puri, Ahmedabad - Vadodara - Surat, Sahibabad - Faridabad - Delhi, Pune - Mumbai, Jamshedpur - Kalinga Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram - Kochi, Kochi - Edappally, Jamnagar - Ahmedabad, and NH-16 Visakhapatnam - Bayyavaram. The above projects were awarded to major companies such as TATA Motors Ltd, Reliance Industries Limited, NTPC, ANERT, Ashok Leyland, HPCL, BPCL, and IOCL. The total financial support for selected projects made available by the Government of India will be around Rs. 208 Crore. These pilot projects are likely to be commissioned in the next 18-24 months, paving the way to the scale-up of such technologies in India. The thrust area for providing support under the scheme is the development of commercially viable technologies for utilizing hydrogen in the transport sector as fuel in buses and trucks and supporting infrastructure like Hydrogen refueling stations. One of the mission's objectives is to support the phased pilot deployment of Green Hydrogen as fuel in buses and trucks. These pilot projects can demonstrate safe and secure operations, assess the effectiveness of hydrogen-based vehicles and refueling stations, validate technical feasibility and performance, and evaluate their economic viability, thereby leading to hydrogen-based vehicles and hydrogen refueling stations under real-world operational conditions. The Scheme Guidelines for implementing Pilot projects for using Green Hydrogen in the Transport Sector under the NGHM can be accessed here. The National Green Hydrogen Mission was launched on January 4, 2023, and will cost Rs 19,744 crores up to 2029-30. It will contribute to India's goal to become Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) through clean energy and serve as an inspiration for the global Clean Energy Transition. (ANI)
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