Hydrogen Strategy India – Current Status and Prospects for the Future

The National Hydrogen Mission India was launched on August 15, 2021 during India's 75th Independence Day. As part of this, the Green Hydrogen Policy was introduced, which provides various objectives, definitions and targets for the transition to Green Hydrogen. In February 2022, amendments were issued via Notification No. 23/02/2022. Important cornerstones of India's Green Hydrogen Policy include.

• Green Hydrogen is uniformly defined as hydrogen produced by electrolysis of water using renewable energy (including biomass).
• Open access for Green Hydrogen to be granted within 15 days of receipt of application.
• Industrial zones specifically for renewable energy are to be established, in which Green Hydrogen is also to be produced.
• Producers of Green Hydrogen shall be allowed to store up to 30 days of unused electricity with electric distribution companies and take it back when needed.
• There would be no interstate transmission charges for 25 years, provided the project is placed in service before June 30, 2025.
• Priority connection to the electric distribution grid for Green Hydrogen occurs to avoid procedural delays.
• Applicability of the Renewable Purchase Obligation for Green Hydrogen.
• A single point of contact for all necessary permits will be created.
• To provide land at ports for storage of Green Hydrogen for export.

Future:

India is focusing on Green Hydrogen and following the trend of western countries. The focus on Green Hydrogen comes just in time after India committed to be carbon neutral by 2070 at the COP-26 summit last year. The issue of energy security is also becoming even more important in India due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

And while India's Green Hydrogen Policy provides the right framework for subsidies and regulations regarding green hydrogen, it now lacks the concrete measures to attract and secure investment. Various policies and laws need to be enacted that mandate the specific use of Green Hydrogen in certain sectors (such as transportation). Only then can investors be sure that investments actually comply with legal requirements. Furthermore, tax benefits for the sector could also lead to more investments being made. Further production incentives are also expected under the PLI scheme. In summary, regulations, guidelines, notices, standards and orders are expected at various levels (both federal and state) and only with their implementation will legal certainty for investors occur. It now remains to be seen how quickly the Indian government can practically implement this to stay on the ball with the "Green Hydrogen" trend.

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