The Indian government is considering compelling fertilizer makers and oil refiners to comprise green hydrogen in their energy baskets.
The plan would cover the seven years from April 2023 and has been disseminated among different ministries for discussion, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in a note on its website.
The ministry also disseminated it's draft Green Hydrogen Mission document among other government departments for consultation.
The move comes as the world's third-biggest polluter debates whether to set an ambitious target to zero out its emissions by 2050. That would necessitate the increased use of hydrogen produced using renewable electricity, particularly in difficult-to-convert sectors such as steelmaking and oil refining that are at present dependent on fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.
Hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization, and storage, neither of which are commercially feasible in most applications, will together account for half of annual emissions reduction in heavy industries by 2070, according to the International Energy Agency.
India's green hydrogen mission targets to scale up production of the fuel as well as bring into line the country's efforts with "global best practices in technology, policy, and regulation," according to the ministry note.