The India H2 Alliance (IH2A) has expanded its membership with the inclusion of JSW Steel, along with government agencies - CSIR-National Chemicals Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) and Scottish Development International (SDI), and three national sustainability think tanks – TERI, CEEW and WRI India.

All members and partner organisations of IH2A work closely with the government of India to build the hydrogen economy and supply chain in India.

The inclusion of India’s leading steel player JSW Steel in IH2A is significant as steel and cement have been identified as priority industrial sectors for decarbonisation, where hydrogen may be adopted early on.

CSIR-NCL is a premier governmental research agency in India focussed on R&D in chemical and allied sciences and engineering with emphasis on clean energy, climate change and sustainability.

Scottish Development International (SDI) brings significant expertise from large-scale hydrogen demonstration projects at Aberdeen, Fife, Orkney, and the Western Isles in Scotland which could be leveraged by India for hydrogen policy design and project development.

Prabodha Acharya, Chief Sustainability Officer, JSW Steel said, “As the IH2A Work Group Lead for steel and cement, we will bring other industry majors and the government together to build consensus for a common path towards hydrogen commercialisation in the steel and cement sectors. Green steel as hydrogen product exports can be a national strategy for taking leadership in the global hydrogen value chain, by embedding hydrogen in the industrial supply chain. This is a leadership opportunity.”

Dr. Ashish Lele, Director, CSIR-NCL said, “Public-private partnerships and active collaboration across the hydrogen value chain are critical for the development of a domestic hydrogen supply chain. The government has invested significantly into hydrogen research and development in the past decade. The time is ripe for taking the next step towards setting up large-scale demonstration projects and taking a multi-sectoral approach for different use-cases.”

David Rennie, Global Head of Energy, SDI said, “Scotland is set to become a leading hydrogen nation, with an ambition to generate 5 GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen by 2030 – enough to power the equivalent of 1.8 million homes. A clean energy partnership between India and Scotland with a focus on green hydrogen, both at a G2G and a B2B level, can create new hydrogen champions, new energy jobs and economic growth in both regions.”

Jillian Evanko, President and CEO, Chart Industries and Founding Co-Lead, IH2A, said, “We are excited to partner with JSW Steel on jointly developing the hydrogen ecosystem in India. This is a leadership moment for decarbonisation in the steel industry and we are proud to have India’s largest steel player with us.”

The new member and partner organisations will work closely with IH2A Steering group Co-Leads Chart Industries and Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), supported by the IH2A Secretariat run by consulting firm FTI Consulting.