Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said green hydrogen could significantly lower fuel costs for road transport, railways, shipping and air travel. He said research should focus on lowering the cost of hydrogen fuel to meet specific needs.
“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 at the CII Global Sustainability Summit.
The current cost of hydrogen as fuel is $5-6 per kg.
According to Gadkari, green hydrogen is not only critical for transport but also 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 not impossible to do it.
