The Union Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas Rameswar Teli said that as per the International Energy Agency, the world demand for hydrogen is expected to grow by 600% by the year 2050. He noted that India is one of the biggest consumers of green hydrogen in the world, with a demand of 6 million tons per annum. The Minster was addressing 3-day International Conference on Green Hydrogen (ICGH-2023) yesterday in New Delhi.

The Minister informed that the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, and oil and gas PSUs have taken various initiatives for promotion of green hydrogen. “The oil and gas PSUs are working towards achieving an annual production capacity of 230 kilo tonnes by the year 2024-25. In addition, these PSUs have set a production target of 7 lakh tonnes of green hydrogen per annum by the year 2030. Oil India Limited has started a pilot plant in Jorhat, Assam which produces 10 kg of green hydrogen per day.”

The Minister added that Indian Oil Corporation Limited has entered into an agreement with Tata Motors, for development of hydrogen fuel cell in India. The Minister informed that buses run by hydrogen fuel cell have begun to run on trial basis in Gujarat.

Stating the importance of utilizing the potential of hydrogen as a fuel, the Minister expressed the hope that India will successfully address the challenges involved in leveraging green hydrogen and thereby contributing to the global energy transition.