Bhubaneswar: Joining a convention here Saturday, state Industries principal secretary Hemant Sharma urged all stakeholders of the green hydrogen sector to work on the viability of projects, as for the industry to thrive in the long run, he explained, it’s essential for everyone involved to generate profit. Value unlocking is the key to the success of all green hydrogen projects, added Sharma while addressing the Green Hydrogen Convention 2023, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Odisha chapter in the Capital, Saturday. He elaborated, “Technology is there and we need to execute at an industrial scale basis. A state like Odisha, which is more energy intensive, has more requirements for green energy to decarbonise its industries. Green energy is a thrust sector for the state government.
To encourage industry stakeholders, we are providing 30 per cent capital investment subsidy without any upper limit for all costs required, sans cost of land, rebate on the electricity bill, etc, which will increase the EBITDA by 7.2 per cent as per our calculation.” Sharma added that the state government is open to all kinds of investment in the sector, including electrolyser production. “We will provide investors best facilities. Our government has already spread the red carpet for investors in this sector. We aspire to be Saudi Arabia of hydrogen and green ammonia,” he said.
Informing about initiatives taken by NITI Aayog, deputy adviser (energy) Manoj Kumar Upadhyay said, “NITI Aayog established a climate and modelling unit for long-term projects to achieve a healthy energy mix and to prepare a sectoral road map to achieve net zero targets by 2070.” Similarly, IREDA chairman Pradip Kumar Das urged the government and financial institutions to handhold and support the emerging energy sector to thrive, saying, “As per our anticipation Rs 22 lakh crore will be required to fund development in the energy sector by 2030. Both banks and nonbanking financial institutions need to play an equal role in funding.”