K'taka is in process of developing India’s first green hydrogen cluster

Soumik Dutta | NT

Energy has been among the biggest areas of interest for industrial investors in Karnataka. At the ‘Invest Karnataka 2022’ meet held in Bengaluru last year, green hydrogen attracted nearly a third of the total Rs 9.81 lakh crore investments committed at the event.

As many as nine green hydrogen manufacturing proposals worth Rs 2.86 lakh crore were received with Karnataka’s coastal region of Mangalore in the reckoning to become the country’s first green hydrogen cluster.

Eleven projects worth Rs1.74 lakh crores were cleared by the state highlevel clearance committee. The projects are supposed to generate additional 41,448 jobs, out of these eight are new ones, and three are additional projects, including green hydrogen and ethanol with an export objective from 2026.

It may be added here that the state is the largest ethanol producer in India, and third largest in sugarcane production in India. It is ranked third in Niti Ayog’s SDG India Index (2020-21). In the Major States category on the innovation index, it topped the list.

Currently, most of the hydrogen used for industrial purposes is generated from fossil fuels. Green hydrogen mostly refers to producing the gas through electrolysis—the process of using electricity to split water— with renewable energy as the power source. The National Hydrogen Mission announced last year aims to make India the world’s largest hydrogen hub.

Many of the proposals received by Karnataka pertain to setting up electrolyser plants in the Mangalore region and storing the hydrogen produced in the form of ammonia. This is because storing hydrogen, which is the lightest element, as liquid or gas requires high pressure and extremely low temperatures, whereas liquid ammonia can be stored at 33°C.

Water availability and the presence of a port in Mangalore make it a preferred location for these plants, the added attraction is that about 220 acres of land and infrastructure is available under the Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ).

Meeting the land requirement for a cluster, however, will be a challenge given that the individual plant proposals are in the range of 200-300 acres each. Hence, the new projects are currently looking at the minimum requirement of 80-100 acres to establish a plant and start operations.

Hydrogen could potentially serve 7–18 percent of the global energy demand in 2050 with the global push for decarbonisation, current policy momentum, and factors such as cost and technology.

Green hydrogen via electrolysis is seen as the alternative to the conventional, high-carbon method of producing hydrogen from methane. But other methods too are being explored. A group from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is working on generating green hydrogen through the thermochemical conversion of biomass, a resource abundantly available in India.

The government of India has identified 10 potential states that could be the key enablers in manufacturing green hydrogen in India to kickstart its National Green Hydrogen Mission. These include Karnataka, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal. India plans to manufacture 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen per annum by 2030.

In February, the government released the green hydrogen policy promising to offer cheaper renewable power, fee waivers for inter-state power transmission for 25 years for projects commissioned before June 2025, land in renewable energy parks, and creating manufacturing zones for the same. Corporate entities like ACME, JSW, Avada ventures, and Renew E fuels are amongst the energy companies setting up shops for green hydrogen and ethanol projects.

Gurgaon-based leading renewable energy Company ACME Group and the Government of Karnataka signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to invest about Rs 52,000 crore in the State to set up a Green Hydrogen & Green Ammonia project.

 ACME Group will set up a 1.2 mtpa Green Hydrogen & Green Ammonia plant associated with a captive solar power unit. The project would generate over 2,000 employment opportunities after the completion of the plant. The project is expected to start operating at full scale by 2027.

The Government of Karnataka would facilitate ACME Group in obtaining necessary registrations, approvals, and clearances, and provide incentives, among others.

Another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ABC Cleantech and the Government of Karnataka commits the company to spend $6 billion to build a 5 GW green hydrogen and ammonia plant.

With 5 GW of renewable energy projects, the plant will be able to create 0.2 million tons of green hydrogen and 1 million tons of green ammonia annually.

Over a ten-year period, th