Gadkari calls for need-based research on green hydrogen to make it economically viable

Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said the green hydrogen can significantly reduce the cost of fuel for roads, railways, shipping and airways and called for need-based research to bring down the cost of hydrogen fuel for different sectors.

“If we can replace coal, oil and gas with green hydrogen in various transport sectors as well as in pharmaceuticals while bringing down its cost to $1 per kg, India can easily become an energy exporting nation in coming years as against an energy importing country now,” Gadkari said.

The current cost of hydrogen is $5-6 per kg. Gadkari was addressing a CII Global Sustainability Summit on Tuesday.

According to Gadkari, green hydrogen is not only critical for transport but has applications in pharmaceuticals, chemicals and steel.

“We will soon start a trial run of green hydrogen trucks on 10 identified highways. Even trains and airplanes can run on green hydrogen and will significantly reduce India’s dependence on fossil fuels,” he said, urging industry to come up with sector-wise and projectwise strategies for sustainable growth.

The minister reiterated that while setting up hydrogen filling stations and developing systems to transport the fuel is a challenge, it is difficult but not impossible to do it.

Explaining the potential of using waste for energy, Gadkari said municipal solid waste could be a game-changer. “If we segregate waste, extract organic matter and feed it into biodigesters, it produces methane. Instead of converting methane into CNG, if we use it to produce green hydrogen, the country’s municipal waste alone could generate very cheap hydrogen,” he said.

According to Gadkari, India needs to develop world class infrastructure to become a $5 trillion economy and the third largest in the world.

“Priority is to build a pollution free and cost effective public transport network in the country and also bring down the logistics cost to make Indian goods competitive in the global market,” he said, adding the logistics cost in India will come down to 9% by end of December.