The government will notify guidelines and issue tender for incentives under the Green Hydrogen Mission by the first half of the next financial year, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy secretary Bhupinder Singh Bhalla told ET.
He said a draft for the incentive schemes has been prepared and the consultation process should begin soon.
“We want to expedite them (the guidelines and tender) but bring them out with clarity so that companies can start planning how to manufacture electrolysers or produce green hydrogen,” he said.
The Union cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission in January with an outlay of INR 19,744 crore. The mission aims to lift India’s green hydrogen production capacity to at least 5 million tonnes per year, with associated renewable energy capacity addition of about 125 GW.
The European Investment Bank last month announced indicative euro 1 billion funding to support large-scale green hydrogen hubs and projects across India.
The ministry has floated a concept note on the offshore wind sector. While discussions on viability gap funding (VGF) are on, Bhalla said other processes are also being identified.
“We have floated a concept note on the proposed VGF for the initial installations. Once that gets through, we will take formal approvals and begin implementing. The process for non-VGF projects is also being finalised,” he said.
Offshore wind projects hold importance in India’s quest to meet 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030.
Bhalla said no formal decision on the relaxation in the approved list of models and manufacturers has been taken by the government yet but the matter is currently being evaluated.
This comes in the backdrop of a large solar capacity addition pipeline, which the local manufacturers may not be able to cater to until enough production capacities come online.
The list so far includes domestic solar module manufacturers that have been given certificates by the Bureau of Indian Standards.
The ministry will calibrate targets of renewable energy as domestic solar equipment manufacturing increases.
“But we will see a gradual rise in capacity addition in renewable energy. There is no other option if we want to reach the 500 GW target,” said Bhalla.
As for the upcoming summer demand, which is expected to be higher than that last year, the ministry is helping expedite the renewable energy projects that are near commissioning.