Kochi: As part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government has launched five pilot projects to integrate hydrogen as a fuel in buses and trucks. Under this initiative, hydrogen-powered vehicles will operate on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi and Kochi-Edapally routes in Kerala.

Earlier, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy issued guidelines for implementing pilot projects in the transport sector under this mission. The proposals were invited for different types of hydrogen-based vehicles, routes, and hydrogen refuelling stations.

These vehicles will run on different routes across the country: Greater Noida - Delhi - Agra, Bhubaneshwar - Konark - Puri, Ahmedabad - Vadodara - Surat, Sahibabad - Faridabad - Delhi, Pune - Mumbai, Jamshedpur - Kalinga Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram - Kochi, Kochi - Edappally, Jamnagar - Ahmedabad, and NH-16 Visakhapatnam - Bayyavaram.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has sanctioned five pilot projects, totalling 37 vehicles (buses and trucks) and 9 hydrogen refuelling stations.

The vehicles that will be deployed for the trial include 15 hydrogen fuel-cell-based vehicles and 22 hydrogen internal combustion engine-based vehicles.

The Government of India has awarded major projects to leading companies such as TATA Motors Ltd, Reliance Industries Limited, NTPC, ANERT, Ashok Leyland, HPCL, BPCL, and IOCL to explore the use of hydrogen as a fuel in the transport sector.

A total of approximately Rs. 208 crore in financial support will be provided for these selected projects. The pilot initiatives are expected to be commissioned within the next 18-24 months, paving the way for scaling up hydrogen technologies across India.

The primary focus of this initiative is to foster the development of commercially viable technologies for using hydrogen as a fuel in buses and trucks, alongside building essential infrastructure such as hydrogen refueling stations.

One of the mission's key objectives is to support the gradual deployment of Green Hydrogen as a fuel for buses and trucks. These pilot projects will serve to demonstrate the safe and efficient operation of hydrogen-based vehicles, evaluate the performance and technical feasibility of refueling stations, and assess the economic viability of this emerging technology under real-world conditions. This will help lay the foundation for the widespread adoption of hydrogen-powered transport in India.