Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday said that public sector oil refiners have invited bids to build green hydrogen plants with a combined capacity of 42 KTPA kilotonnes per year. Plans are also in place to issue tenders for an additional 128 kilotonnes, he said.
Sharing the update on social media after a meeting with industry stakeholders, the minister said these initiatives will be implemented at a cost of an estimated Rs. 2,00,000 crores.
“42 KTPA tenders have been floated by the refineries, while 128 more will be issued by PSU refineries based on the outcome of those tenders. These initiatives will be implemented at a cost of an estimated Rs. 2,00,000 crores,” he posted.
Puri said nine research and pilot projects are currently being developed, while four have already been completed by Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), GAIL (India) Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).
He also emphasized the growing role of alternative energy sources in India’s transition to clean energy. “In an engaging interaction with a large number of stakeholders of the green hydrogen sector. we discussed efforts being undertaken in all four verticals of the rapidly emerging sector – production, transportation, storage & application,” he said.
Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy and can replace hydrogen currently made from fossil fuels, which is widely used in petroleum refining, fertilizer production, and steelmaking.
India currently uses around 5 million metric tonnes of grey hydrogen every year—mostly for refining and ammonia production, with nearly 99% of it made from natural gas.
