New Delhi: The government’s expenditure on the National Green Hydrogen Mission is currently at Rs 11 lakh, considerably lower than the allocated Rs 100 crore for the fiscal year 2023-24, as informed to the Parliament recently.
Union Minister R K Singh shared that the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy is overseeing the mission, aimed at establishing India as a global hub for Green Hydrogen production.
Revised estimates for the Mission in 2022-23 were Rs 1,00,000, with no expenditure reported. For the fiscal year 2023-24, the revised estimates are Rs 100 crore, with an expenditure of Rs 11 lakh recorded so far.
The mission aims to achieve a Green Hydrogen production capacity of 5 MMT per annum by 2030, reducing dependence on fossil fuel imports and generating investments of over Rs 8 lakh crore and creating more than 6 lakh jobs.
Concerns about cost escalation due to the Uniform Renewable Energy Tariff (URET) implementation were addressed by Minister Singh, stating that the initiation is pending, and no assessment has been conducted.
Minister Singh clarified that intermediary procurers, acting as traders, do not have direct public service obligations. They buy Renewable Energy (RE) power and sell it to distribution licensees, who then supply power to consumers.
In a separate response, Minister Singh shared that 72.02 GW of Solar Power Projects have been installed, working towards the government’s target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, including solar energy.
