During the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Summit in New Delhi on 22nd June 2022; Kapil Maheshwari, President, New Energy Division, Reliance Industries Limited, noted that India provides huge opportunities in the field of hydrogen and in all likelihood would generate billion-dollar investments.
As per the RIL President, India offers significant prospects in the hydrogen industry and is projected to attract big investments amounting up to USD 150 billion.
When asked about the prospects of the Hydrogen industry, Maheshwari remarked, “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.”
Earlier to this, in a panel discussion on “India’s Hydrogen Opportunity,” the panelists emphasized the implementation of specific measures that the Indian government must undertake in the form of “penalties and taxes” to increase the demand for hydrogen in India.
Kapil Maheshwari pointed out, “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.” The RIL President also highlighted that homogeneous regulations 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,” Maheswari emphasized.
Naresh Lalwani, Head of Strategy, Planning & Diligence at JSW Steel noted that public financing is necessary for developing and enhancing the hydrogen ecosystem.
Lalwani also added that besides public financing, low-cost hydrogen production technology is the need of the hour to curb the existing high cost of hydrogen generation of USD 3-4 per kilogram.
In the context of the usage of hydrogen in the production of steel, Lalwani said, “the price of steel will increase by six times if hydrogen is used for $3–4 per kg.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the 26th United Nations climate change conference (COP26) in 2021 had previously mentioned that the Zero-emission objective of India will be reached by 2070. India will need to invest more than USD10 trillion to reach its Zero-emission target by 2070.
The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme must also be put in place by the Indian government to enhance domestic production through new hydrogen manufacturing company formation in India and reduce India’s reliance on energy imports for fulfilling its Zero-emission objective.
Besides promoting the demand and use of green hydrogen through incentives and regulations with reduced pricing, implementing advanced carbon capture technology for the use of coal-based energy, the largest source of primary energy locally available in India is also vital to achieving the target.
India’s renewable energy sector has been witnessing a steady increase in FDI inflow as many overseas investors are getting attracted to doing business in India. The total inflow during the FY 2021-2022 first half stood at USD 1.03 billion, more than that was invested during FY 2020-2021.
