Indian Oil Corporation to award green hydrogen tender by mid-May

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) will award the tender for India’s biggest green hydrogen plant with up to 10 kilo tonnes per annum capacity by mid-May, Chairperson Arvinder Singh Sahney said on Wednesday.

 

With the tender having been reissued twice so far, the company has “taken all precautions” for the tender process to be successful this time, Sahney said at a briefing.

 

The state-owned oil marketing company has relaunched the tender — calling to create the plant at its Panipat Refinery and Petrochemicals complex on a build-own-operate-transfer basis — twice so far. IOCL plans to set up green hydrogen units at all of its refineries as part of a ₹2.4 trillion green transition plan to achieve net zero carbon emission status by 2046.

 

The company cancelled its initial tender back in February 2024 after it led to bidders approaching the Delhi High Court. Prospective bidders had alleged a conflict of interest on IOCL’s part in the last tender. This was owing to GH4India Pvt Ltd, IOCL’s joint venture with infrastructure and engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and renewable energy company ReNew, also bidding for the tender. An industry body of green hydrogen producers, the Independent Green Hydrogen Producers Association, had also moved the Delhi High Court.

 

Subsequently, a reworked tender was cancelled in August after it reportedly received only two bids — GH4India and Noida-based Neometrix Engineering. According to the tender terms, the winning bidder was required to commence hydrogen gas delivery within 30 months of the project’s award. The project involved a 75 MW electrolyser capacity to generate 300 MW of clean energy, with an overall capital expenditure estimated at $400 million.

 

The tender was reissued a third time in September 2024.