 "India will retaliate on trade barriers on green hydrogen: R K Singh")
Union minister for power and new and renewable energy R K Singh said India will retaliate on the trade barriers the developed world is putting on trade and export of green hydrogen.
The minister was speaking at the country’s first International Conference on Green Hydrogen.
“Some countries are putting barriers on green hydrogen (trade and technology). If they are putting up barriers, we will also put up barriers. Then, you will be losing out on our market,” Singh said.
The minister was hinting at global tenders, which have a location restriction.
A recent global tender by Germany, to procure hydrogen, was found to be restrictive by Indian industry players. The new and renewable energy ministry took up the matter with the ministry of external affairs.
The US, which under its Inflation Reduction Act is subsidising green energy sources, also has criteria of local manufacturing in some cases.
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Singh did not comment on the barriers that India is considering. He added, “India will emerge as a leader in adopting green hydrogen as well. Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, projects have commenced for setting up 3.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen manufacturing capacity already. We can do this as we have built a huge and robust ecosystem for renewables. We have almost 25 Gw of solar manufacturing capacity and another 40-50 Gw is under construction. We are going to emerge as the largest manufacturer of solar cells and modules outside China.”
The new and renewable energy ministry, last week, issued the first set of specifications for drafting the tender on green hydrogen and electrolyser manufacturing.
He also said India’s cost of green hydrogen will be the lowest in the world.
The Union Cabinet, earlier this year, had approved an initial outlay of Rs. 19,500 crore for the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The mission was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his speech on the 75th Independence Day in 2021.
The mission will have four components, which will aim at enhancing domestic production of green hydrogen and promoting the manufacturing of electrolysers — a key component for making green hydrogen.