On May 5, at the inaugural meeting of the empowered group for the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) intends to provide a comprehensive plan for securing funding for Bharat Heavy Electrical’s (BHEL) next-generation technology development. For the current fiscal year (FY24), the ministry will propose requesting funds from the proposed Rs 1,866 crore under the pilot projects and research and development (R&D) head.
The initial outlay for the mission, cleared by the Union Cabinet in January, will be Rs 19,744 crore, including an outlay of Rs 17,490 crore for the SIGHT programme, Rs 1,466 crore for pilot projects, Rs 400 crore for R&D, and Rs 388 crore towards other mission components.
The money will aid in easing the financial load on BHEL as the green hydrogen industry is still in its infancy and does not yet have the demand to warrant substantial investments.
By providing the necessary R&D push, the first phase of the strategy will build the groundwork
for upcoming energy changes in difficult-to-abate industries. The R&D programme within the mission aims to produce globally competitive technology in a variety of segments, per the NGHM draught plan launched in January. During this (first) phase, an effort will be made to combine and utilise current infrastructure and capabilities. The “development of domestic modular electrolyzers, Type III/Type IV compressed hydrogen tanks, and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM)-based fuel cells” are likely initiatives under this paradigm with the aim of improving operational efficiencies.
The scheme rules for putting each component into action will be developed by the ministry of new and renewable energy.