The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued the second call for Research and Development (R&D) proposals under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
The R&D program aims to accelerate the development of indigenous and cost-effective green hydrogen technologies across the production, storage, transportation, and utilization segments
Applications must be submitted by August 21, 2025.
The first call for proposals was issued in March 2024.
Proposals must align with objectives focused on enhancing the affordability, safety, efficiency, and scalability of green hydrogen production, as well as its storage, transportation, and utilization. They must also promote collaborative research and development between academia, industry, and government institutions.
Proposals must support the scaling up and commercialization of promising technologies by leveraging policy and regulatory mechanisms to drive growth and innovation.
The key areas for R&D include innovations in hydrogen production (non-biomass, including cost-efficient electrodes and membranes, as well as biomass routes such as modular reactors and purification methods), storage, and transportation methods (materials with high storage capacity, low-cost compressed storage, pipeline feasibility, and liquid organic hydrogen carrier).
Proposals should address application development, including hydrogen refueling stations, compression technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles, hydrogen-based power solutions, as well as safety-related components such as leak detectors and sensors.
Entities that can submit proposals include academic institutions, R&D institutions, government institutions, public sector undertakings, private research institutions, and industries possessing adequate infrastructure for executing R&D projects in green hydrogen technologies.
The proposals must define the initial and target technology readiness levels (TRLs). Initial TRL must be four or higher, and target TRLs must be seven or above.
Proposals must include defined objectives, deliverables, timelines, national/international benchmarking, curriculum vitae of project investigators, and the roles of all partners in any applying consortium. Industrial partners are expected to contribute financially and technically. They must demonstrate R&D capability and commercialization potential.
Funding
Academic, governmental, and non-profit institutions can receive up to 100% funding. Private institutions and industries may receive up to 80% of the project cost. In academia-industry consortia, academic institutions can receive full funding for their share, while industry partners are expected to contribute financially and technically, including in-kind.
Overhead expenses are limited to 8% of the costs for projects costing up to ₹10 million (~$116,279). For projects between ₹10 million (~$116,279) and ₹50 million (~$581,395), the overheads will be ₹1.5 million (~$17,442) or 8% of the project, whichever is lower.
For projects exceeding ₹50 million (~$581,395), the overheads are ₹1.5 million (~$17,442) plus 2% of the amount exceeding ₹50 million (~$581,395). For projects between ₹100 million (~$1.16 million) to ₹200 million (~$2.33 million), the expenses are ₹2.5 million (~$29,070) plus 1.5% of the amount exceeding ₹100 million (~$1.16 million).
For projects above ₹200 million (~$2.33 million), ₹4 million (~$46,512) plus 1% of the amount exceeding ₹200 million (~$2.33 million). Travel expenses are capped at ₹300,000 (~$3,488)/annum/project for domestic travel. Contingency expenditure can be up to 10% of the total project cost.
In July 2023, the MNRE unveiled the ₹4 billion (~$48.12 million) R&D Roadmap for the National Green Hydrogen Mission, aiming to develop an ecosystem that facilitates the commercialization of green hydrogen.
