Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri flagged off India’s first green hydrogen fuel cell bus in Delhi on September 25.

Puri said 15 green hydrogen buses will be operational by the end of 2023. “The success of this project can catapult India from being a net importer of fossil energy to becoming a net exporter of clean hydrogen energy; provide global leadership to other countries in terms of technology transfer, while becoming a large green hydrogen producer and supplier of manufacturing parts,” the minister said.

Puri added that the hydrogen fuel-powered vehicle can be refilled in a few minutes, nearly as fast as fossil fuel can fill an internal combustion engine.

The project for green hydrogen fuel cell bus has been undertaken by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) in collaboration with Tata Motors. Indian Oil has initiated a scientifically designed program to undertake operational trials of 15 fuel cell buses powered by green hydrogen on the identified routes in Delhi, Haryana and U.P.

Indian Oil has also established a state-of-the-art dispensing facility at our R&D Faridabad campus that can refuel green hydrogen produced from electrolysis using solar PV panels.