The Jharkhand government on 25th August 2023 signed an agreement with TCPL Green Energy Solutions Private Ltd (TCPL GES) to set up the country's "first" hydrogen fuel project at Jamshedpur.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. He said that this is the first hydrogen fuel project of the country, and hydrogen engines built in Jharkhand would be sent across India.

The plant to be set up with an investment of Rs 354.28 crore will have a capacity to manufacture over 4,000 hydrogen Internal Combustion engine/fuel agnostic engines and more than 10,000 battery systems.

The facility is expected to start commercial production in March 2024, and likely provide employment to about 1,000 people directly or indirectly.

TCPL GES is a joint venture between Tata Motors and Cummins Inc, USA.

Significance of the project

The government of India is encouraging the use of green hydrogen as fuel in the transport sector so as to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels like petrol or diesel. Transport sector runs on fossil fuel and is one of the main sources of pollution and emitter of greenhouse gases,leading to global warming. The government intends to make India carbon neutral by 2070.

There is likely to be a heavy demand for engines which use green hydrogen fuels . This plant is the first step in meeting these future needs.

Recently a trial run of buses has started in Leh,Ladakh which runs on hydrogen.

What is green hydrogen ?

It refers to the breaking down of the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable sources of energy. Renewable source of energy means which can be used again and again like solar power, hydel, wind energy etc. It contains no carbon which is responsible for global warming.

National Green Hydrogen Mission

The government of India has launched the National Green Hydrogen Mission in 2023. The initial outlay for the scheme is Rs Rs.19,744 crore.

The Mission will result in the following likely outcomes by 2030:

Development of green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMT (Million Metric Tonne) per annum with an associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 Gigawatt in the country
Over Rs. Eight lakh crore in total investments
Creation of over Six lakh jobs
Cumulative reduction in fossil fuel imports over Rs. One lakh crore
Abatement of nearly 50 MMT of annual greenhouse gas emissions