Govt targets at least 1,000 hydrogen trucks, buses on roads by 2030

The central government plans to put at least 1,000 hydrogen-powered trucks and buses on the road by 2030, an official said.

 

After electric vehicles (EVs), hydrogen-powered cars have emerged as a viable alternative to conventional internal combustion engine vehicles to curb road transport emissions.

 

“Almost 50 trucks and buses should be running on hydrogen within this year, and from next year, we’ll need to scale up. We expect more than 1,000 trucks or buses to be in commercial use across the country by 2030,” Abhay Bakre, mission director of the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), said on Thursday at a Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers event on revolutionising mobility.

 

But the availability of green hydrogen will be a challenge, he said. “That’s because most of the hydrogen we aim to produce is meant for a wider market, given the high capital investment required.”

 

Refineries need large renewable energy inputs, big plants, vast land, and water to produce green hydrogen.

 

The government also plans to install fuel stations every 200 kilometres (km) and produce biogas-based or decentralised hydrogen at affordable rates. Pilots have been cleared for 10 short-distance corridors, though longer routes like Delhi-Mumbai may also be explored. 

 

The ease of charging an EV at home doesn’t apply to hydrogen vehicles.

 

“At this stage, it’s risky to produce hydrogen and charge your vehicle at home. Maybe someday, we’ll produce hydrogen on rooftops for cooking and transport, but that’s still far off. So, we’re building a network of hydrogen refilling stations,” Bakre said.

 

“Our first step is to run pilots across various mobility levels. We plan to set up roadside fuel stations using biogas-based or decentralised hydrogen. We’ve already cleared pilots in 10 corridors,” he added.

 

“These are short stretches, 100 to 200 km. But we might even try longer corridors like Delhi-Mumbai or others, where fuelling stations could be set up every 200 km. The idea is to produce decentralised hydrogen at a much lower cost.”

 

A hydrogen fuel cell vehicle runs on hydrogen gas as its main fuel source.

 

Currently, no hydrogen cars are available for purchase in India, though several manufacturers have announced plans to introduce them.

 

After targeting road transport, the government now aims to extend hydrogen use to other sectors such as aviation and shipping, as outlined in the NGHM guidelines.

 

With an outlay of ₹19,744 crore, NGHM was launched in January 2023 for the period up to 2029–30 to reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports. The budget for mobility pilot projects in 2025–26 is ₹496 crore.

 

Pilot projects under the mission also include those for steel, shipping, decentralised energy, hydrogen from biomass, and hydrogen storage.