The turnaround can be attributed to investor friendly policy, akin to the one that the Government of India took in 1991 with the New Economic Policy. The several steps that Telangana took includes: speedy clearance aided by a single window, 100 per cent refund on VAT and GST, refund on stamp duty, exemption from Land Ceiling Act, exemption from electricity wheeling charges and not running around to get approval from the State Pollution Control Board.
The most visible area of the state’s renewable energy push has been in public transport system. The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) for instance teamed up with TSREDCO to install solar rooftop systems on the bus stations, bus depots and workshops. In all, 97 bus depots and 364 bus stations have been covered and the savings are over Rs 2 crore per annum. What is more! It resulted in reduction in carbon emissions by 7,300 tonnes a year.
Several companies are setting up Green Hydrogen plants
IndiGlobal Bureau
In what can be considered a green push, many companies are setting up green hydrogen plants. The industry is gaining momentum with heavy investments from the public as well as the private sector. Reliance Industries is coming up with a giga complex in Jamnagar, which will also house an electrolyser manufacturing unit. By December, GAIL (India) will commission 10 megawatt green hydrogen production unit with a capacity of 4.3 tonnes per day in Vijaypur in Madhya Pradesh.
Adani Enterprises Green hydrogen production capacity of 1 million tonne per annum before 2030. JSW ENERGY 3.8 KTA green hydrogen production planned. Larsen & Toubro Gigawatt-scale manufacturing facility for electrolysers at Hazira, Gujarat is in the offing.
Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Indian Oil Corporation, and ReNew are expected to form a joint venture (JV) company. According to a report in Business Standard, the necessary approvals for tripartite JV are ready and it is just a matter of a shove and a push. GAIL is setting up a green hydrogen production unit with a capacity of 4.3 tonnes per day at Guna in Madhya Pradesh.
This unit will produce green hydrogen using polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) technology based on water electrolysis. This unit is expected to commence November 2023 onwards. Companies that are giving a fillip to green hydrogen include L&T, Adani Enterprises, NTPC, Reliance and GAIL.
Challenges
Although companies are evincing interest in commissioning green hydrogen plants, to make it commercially viable depends on a host of factors such as demand, technological issues, regulatory matters and maturity of the system. For instance,
“Several Indian companies are in the process of commissioning commercial-scale green hydrogen plants in India in 2022-23 through FY24 and beyond. As with most large-scale fuel manufacturing units, these will take time to scale up to full capacity due to a combination of market demand, technological barriers, and regulatory conditions. The demand needs to be defined. Many would be using for in-house needs to start with. According to sources, in Hazira electrolyser manufacturing unit, the company would be making use of the output internally initially. It may be noted that L&T plans to establish a gigawatt-scale manufacturing facility for electrolysers.