A stakeholder consultation ‘Developing Green Hydrogen Ecosystem for Jharkhand’ was jointly organised by the Task Force on Green Hydrogen Mission, Government of Jharkhand and Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) in association with Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Tata Steel on Tuesday.
The objective of the consultation was to sensitise stakeholders about the challenges and prospects of green hydrogen and bring their solution-driven perspectives and support in Jharkhand. The consultation witnessed participation from top officials from the government department and agencies and leaders from major industries, public sector undertakings, business associations, research think-tanks and techno-solutions providers from India and Jharkhand.
Addressing the conference, Avinash Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Energy, Jharkhand said that, ‘The state government is committed to ensure energy security in the state and accordingly cleaner sources of energy have been prioritised. As a form of clean energy, hydrogen is the future. Green hydrogen is considered the next big thing to fulfil the net-zero ambitions and climate related goals in India and Jharkhand. As per the mandates of the National Green Hydrogen Mission and net-zero scenario, we are also exploring its huge potential in the state to bring its economic advantages and environmental co-benefits in the state.’
For achieving the net-zero scenario, the Government of India has launched a National Green Hydrogen Mission in 2022 and subsequently announced Green Hydrogen Policy. The Jharkhand government has formed a ‘Task Force on Green Hydrogen Mission’ in March 2023 to assess the current scenario of hydrogen energy, best practices from around the globe, its applicability and suitability for the state and accordingly create a roadmap for implementing the mission in Jharkhand.
The task force is chaired by A.K. Rastogi (IFS Retd.) and its nominated members include senior officials from Energy and Forest departments along with Partha Majumdar (Regional Executive Director, NTPC) and B. Sai Ram (Director-Project and Planning, CCL) and Ajit Dhanraj Kothari (ChiefSustainability and Decarbonisation project, Tata Steel). CEED has been roped in as a technical partner to provide handholding support to the Task force.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr A.K. Rastogi (IFS Retd.), Chairman of Task Force on Green Hydrogen Mission said that “Jharkhand is primarily an industrialised state with a strong presence of industries of iron-steel, transport vehicles, cement and others. Broadly these sectors are considered as hard to abate in terms of the decarbonisation process, where the role of low carbon energy and technologies is crucial.’
Ramapati Kumar, CEO of CEED said, “Indeed this is a pathbreaking move and CEED feels immense pride in working as its technical partner. Blessed with abundant natural resources and human capital, Jharkhand has a significant advantage in the production of hydrogen energy. However, an assessment of renewable energy sources in the state is prerequisite for mapping out the prospects of green hydrogen.”
The notable people include B. Sairam, Director, CCL, Rajiv Mangal, Vice President- Safety, Health and Sustainability, TATA Steel; Jagabatha Ningthoujam, Principal, Rocky Mountain Institute-India,. DMR Panda, GM, NTPC, Jaideep Malik, Business Development, Hydrogen, John Cockerill, Kajol, Sr. Manager, Industrial Decarbonization, Energy, WRI, P. C. Jha Chief Manager, Environment, CMPDI , Anand Kumar, Head, Policy Affairs and Project Development, Hygenco, etc. and representatives from academia and research institutions.
