Bhubaneswar: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi and Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja Friday unequivocally stated that Odisha is uniquely positioned to play a critical role in India’s green hydrogen transition. This was revealed during a review meeting of two flagship programmes of the Union government—National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) and PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSG: MBY). Ahuja emphasised that Odisha is strongly positioned to lead India’s green hydrogen transition. While acknowledging key challenges such as water availability, integration of large-scale renewable energy, and developing enabling infrastructure, he underscored state’s strategic coastal location, robust industrial ecosystem, and proactive policy framework offer favourable conditions for the state to emerge as ga lobal exporter for green hydrogen derivatives.
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Similarly, Sarangi highlighted that Odisha is uniquely positioned to play a critical role in India’s green hydrogen scale-up, and the state is attracting significant interest from domestic investors for the production of green hydrogen derivatives like green ammonia and green methanol, particularly near key ports like Paradip and Gopalpur. The meeting brought together senior officials from the state government, key Central ministries, and leading green hydrogen developers to deliberate on critical challenges in the development of large-scale green hydrogen and green ammonia projects, particularly at the SEZ in Gopalpur. These efforts aim at paving the way for a comprehensive roadmap in India’s rapidly growing green hydrogen ecosystem. The state government reiterated its commitment to a collaborative ecosystem and preferred investment destination for the production and export of green hydrogen derivatives, in a time-bound manner. The MNRE also reviewed the state’s performance in green energy initiatives along with the Chief Secretary.
Following the review, directions were issued to District Collectors for expediting the pace of rooftop solar installations across the state. Ahuja emphasised the need for conducting regular SLBC meetings, engaging with vendors and bankers, and ensuring prompt loan sanction and disbursement to facilitate implementation. He also advised implementing a utility-led aggregation (ULA) model, with a focused approach towards low-income households installing systems below 1 kW capacity.
