According to Kapil Maheshwari, President of Reliance Industries Limited’s New Energy division, India offers tremendous prospects in the hydrogen industry and is projected to draw investments worth up to $150 billion.
Maheshwari continued when questioned about the hydrogen industry’s prospects for investment: “There are chances. We (India) already have a market of 6-7 million tonnes, which is a sizable amount. A 150-200 billion dollar investment might arrive in ten years, creating thousands of employment.”
Prior to this, participants in a panel discussion on “India’s Hydrogen Opportunity” emphasized the need for the government to implement specific measures in the form of “penalties and taxes” to increase the demand for hydrogen in India.
According to Maheshwari, “the government should take action to address the development of demand for hydrogen by enacting obligations, carbon taxes, and penalty taxes until the market embraces it.”
Additionally, he continued, rules that are homogeneous in character are necessary to boost investor trust.
“Make sure your policies are followed. No ambiguity in regulations or revisions would provide investors confidence that they are investing where they expect to see a return on their money, “He continued.
The development of the hydrogen ecosystem requires public financing, according to Naresh Lalwani, Head of Strategy, Planning & Diligence at JSW Steel.
Additionally, he stated that attention should be paid to hydrogen generation and pricing, which now ranges from $3 to $4 per kilogram. It is necessary to create and use low-cost hydrogen production technologies.
When discussing the use of hydrogen in the production of steel, he asserted that “the price of steel will increase by six times if hydrogen is used at a cost of $3–4 per kg.”
At COP-26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had previously said that India’s zero-emission objective will be reached by 2070. (26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2021).
To reach its net-zero emission goal by 2070, India will need to invest more than $10 trillion.
India must take steps to encourage domestic production, like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) plan, to reduce its reliance on imports in the energy industry if it is to meet its goal.
In addition to promoting the use of green hydrogen through demand-side incentives and regulations to reduce prices, utilizing carbon capture technology for the use of coal-based energy—the greatest source of primary energy and one that is locally sourced—is also crucial to achieving the aim.
