India has started pushing for green hydrogen for the path towards decarbonisation as it is the fuel for the future, Abhay Bakre, Mission Director at National Green Hydrogen Mission said on Tuesday. Over centuries, mankind has evolved on carbon and developed every technology around that even though everybody knew that hydrogen is also an existing source of energy.
While speaking at the International Symposium for Thriving Eco-Energy in Mobility at the Bharat Mobility Expo 2025, Bakre said, “We have started thinking and taking action for decarbonisation. The best possible effort to do that is the biofuel and second is the hydrogen, which is abundantly available.” He further said that this is why India has started putting green hydrogen as the fuel for the future.
Talking about how to go about the path of recovery after significant levels of carbon emissions, he said that India has two ways to go about it, either to peak emissions and then start coming down to reach net zero by 2070 or by finding opportunities of decarbonisation in every sector along with their growth.
India is growing at a faster rate and that's why the replacement and addition of new industries, installations and capacities offer opportunities. “Thereby all the technologies and the industries have to collaborate with each other to make sure that this gradual change from fossil fuels to greener fuels for the future can happen systematically and we land up in a situation where we comfortably move towards net zero rather than hitting a peak and then coming down while paying huge costs,” he said. He further said that this pathway is available but it can be tapped only with meticulous planning, lots of technology improvements, policy making and government support, industry support and a good amount of collaboration.
While referring to the Green Hydrogen Mission, Bakre said that it is one such instrument which is offering a lot of policies, incentives and is giving a good opportunity for potential sectors like transport to switch gradually from fossil fuels to green hydrogen.
As a part of the SIGHT Scheme of the Green Hydrogen Mission, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had invited bids to establish green hydrogen manufacturing capacities of 4,50,000 tonnes every year under the second portion with a total allocated incentive of Rs 5,400 crore. Following the offer from the government, 14 companies bid 622,500 tonnes and most companies got the maximum capacities that they had quoted. The Hydrogen mission was launched in January 2023 with an outlay of Rs 17,940 crore.
