
Shripad Yesso Naik urges industry, global firms to invest in Green Hydrogen sector
New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) Minister of State for New & Renewable Energy Shripad Yesso Naik on Thursday said that Green Hydrogen has the power to ensure energy security and called upon industry leaders to invest in research and development and to build infrastructure in this field.
Addressing the inaugural 'CII International Business Conclave on Green Hydrogen' the minister highlighted that Green Hydrogen has the power to reduce dependency on fossil fuels and enhance industrial competitiveness across sectors.
"I invite global companies, governments, and financing institutions to partner with us in green hydrogen research, innovation, and trade," the minister said and called upon "India's industry to invest in R&D, scale manufacturing, build infrastructure, and develop human capital."
The minister said Green Hydrogen is not just a fuel, it is a commitment to the planet, to future generations, and to sustainable prosperity.
For India, with its strong Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) base and varied industrial clusters, distributed models can unlock local demand and drive bottom-up growth, he said.
These models will not only strengthen domestic hydrogen consumption but also make the green fuel more accessible and regionally balanced. "In tandem, we are encouraging the development of Green Hydrogen corridors across the country," he said.
Under the SIGHT programme, tenders have already been issued for 42,000 metric tonnes of Green Hydrogen per annum for refineries and over 7.2 lakh metric tonnes of Green Ammonia for fertilizers, he noted.
Our strategy to position India as a global Green Hydrogen hub also depends on robust international partnerships, he opined.
India is working with key partners -- including the EU, Japan, Singapore, Germany, and the Netherlands -- to establish offtake agreements, certification frameworks, and shared infrastructure for storage, transport, and trade, he noted.
New & Renewable Energy Secretary Santosh Kumar Sarangi said that Green Hydrogen has a great future.
He said the government is already working on four elements related to fuel and those are regulation, incentives, standards and collaborations with stakeholders.
He also stated that the ministry is working with industry on the definition of Green Hydrogen.
Chairman ReNew, Sumant Sinha opined that Green Hydrogen is essential for energy transition. According to Sinha India needs 40 million tonnes of Green Hydrogen (annually) to achieve the goal of net zero by 2070.
He suggested that India needs to replace the use of 6 million tonnes of Grey Hydrogen by Green Hydrogen.
He pointed that high cost of Green Hydrogen which is USD 4.5 per kg, while Grey Hydrogen is available for half a USD.
He suggested subsidies for boosting Green Hydrogen production in the country.
He was of the view that India needs to deal with issues of high cost, GST, long term contracts and demand creation to boost Green Hydrogen in the country.
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Indian Express
44 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Hervé Delphin at Idea Exchange: ‘EU-India is not just a relationship, it's become a tangible commodity'
Hervé Delphin, EU Ambassador to India, on how the EU-India partnership has made global ties more compelling and where Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran conflicts are headed. The session was moderated by Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor, The Indian Express. Shubhajit Roy: In the context of India-EU relationship, how do you see the journey of two-and-a-half decades? The EU and India have had a long journey. We established relations in 1962 and in 2004, we formally established a strategic partnership. At the time, the world was rather flat, now it's a different environment. We are today the largest trading bloc and partner of India. It's close to $200 billion in goods and services. We've been converging in our assessment of security, as well. The Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean are cases in point. We also have been converging people to people. Last year, there were about over 1 million visa applications of Indians to Europe, with an approval rate of 85 per cent. You also have an expanded footprint of European companies in India, about 6,000. Likewise, you've got more Indian companies investing in Europe. So what I see is this multi-layered relationship. The EU College of Commissioners visit in February helped to break the last hesitations that may have been there on both sides. Can we really trust each other? You know that in politics, even though you advance your relations, trust is the rarest commodity. So, we are now in what I would call a year cycle. If you consider that the College visit was the starting point, the end point will be the EU-India Summit in Delhi in about a year. The EU and India together represent 25 per cent of world GDP and 25 per cent of world population. It sends out a message to the rest of the world that we are two partners invested in looking at the world through the lens of cooperative engagement and cooperative multipolarism. It's not just a relationship, it's become a tangible commodity. Shubhajit Roy: One of the key elements that the two sides decided to work on was defence and security partnerships. What are the next steps going forward? The key pillars of this new strategic agenda are trade and economy, security and defence, technology, mobility and global partnerships, including connectivity. Arguably, security and defence were not so much in the landscape a few years ago. But, now we are a continent at war. There is an aggressor that decided to launch a war of choice on a sovereign country which is really a European neighbour. And that sent shockwaves through our system. In security and defence, the EU collectively has increased its expenditures by 30 per cent, between 2021 and 2024. Now it's about $350 billion. Looking at strategic and defence partnerships, the authorisation to have one with India is on the table of the Council and we are confident that will be authorised. This is what I call the political pathway. 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But harnessing the different elements of our respective ecosystems and understanding the kind of protocols we are developing is interesting. Shubhajit Roy: On the FTA, how close or far are India and EU from concluding this particular agreement? This is the only way to bring the two economic constituencies together. It would, probably, be the largest-ever FTA India will conclude. For the EU, it's more or less the same. Since we are at different levels of development, the complexity of the negotiation is significant. There is so much determination on both sides to have it done. Just look at the pace of negotiating rounds. The next one is on July 7 in Brussels. Shubhajit Roy: The UK has beaten the EU on the FTA with India. The US is saying it will conclude it within the next month or so, before July 9. Is the EU lagging behind? Is it a race? Honestly, I prefer to be slower but bring larger goodies than being fast and having a small bag. What is important is not about being fast and furious, but resolute and substantial, for both constituencies. Europeans are not necessarily the sexiest or the most fun, but we are steady. We are reliable, we are predictable, and these days, these kinds of qualities have a higher value than before. So indeed, we may be a bit slower, we are a bit bureaucratic, we are not shining, but at the end of the day, we deliver. And all the FTAs we have signed have delivered positively for both sides. We are not in a zero-sum game, we are in a positive-sum game. And that is characteristic of our FTAs. On Israel-Iran conflict | Israel has a right to protect itself. That they have taken this rather dramatic action is serious. The only way to bring us away from the brink is the diplomatic track. But the onus is on Iran Shubhajit Roy: How confident are you that the US negotiations will lead to an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the war? The EU has made its position very clear. We support President (Donald) Trump's efforts for a ceasefire. But what has become abundantly clear is that Russia is stalling and is not engaging seriously and earnestly in any peace arrangement. They want to stay. For us, this is in blatant violation of the UN charter and it represents a threat to our security interests. So, if there is a serious peace process that is in place, we will engage. And, of course, we want the Ukrainians to be part. This is where the initiative of President Trump has created a space. But what we've seen in the last month is that Russia doesn't come to the table or comes to the table with deflecting arguments. We will continue to support peace efforts and Ukraine's right to defend itself. There's 135 billion Euro worth of assistance that have been channelled towards Ukraine, micro-financial assistance, humanitarian aid, military assistance. We will continue to try to degrade the war economy of Russia. We had the 18th package that has just been presented. 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Israel took action. This is a fact. We have stated very clearly that Israel has a right to protect itself. That they have taken this rather dramatic action is serious. The only way to bring us away from the brink is the diplomatic track. But the onus is on Iran. Ravi Dutta Mishra: Under the EU's 18th sanctions package on Russia, Europe has decided to stop importing refined Russian petroleum via third countries. India exported over $20 billion worth of refined petroleum to the EU in FY24. What is your take on India-EU relations in light of these sanctions? When the EU decided to take action against Russia through sanctions, they were designed to minimise the impact on fuel, fertilisers, and food. We wanted the sanctions to affect Russia, not others. That's why we imposed a price cap on oil rather than a ban. India is a net importer of oil, and we never blamed India for importing Russian crude. However, when it comes to refined products derived from Russian crude oil, perhaps, economic operators acted opportunistically. But from the EU's perspective, our policy has always been clear: we will not import Russian oil, whether crude or refined. These sanctions are not directed against India; they are part of a blanket policy. Those who made money during these years — good for them — but this opportunity will no longer exist. Ravi Dutta Mishra: Europe and Indian negotiators are talking about carbon tax. Will there be a middle ground? I have come to discover that Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is one of the most-known acronyms in India. First, CBAM is not a trade measure. It is not part of trade and FTA. It's about compliance with our climate agenda to accelerate decarbonisation. It applies to our European economic actors. This is a societal and political choice of the EU. If you want to do business in Europe, you cannot import carbon. On Russia-Ukraine conflict | We support President Trump's efforts for a ceasefire. But what is clear is that Russia is stalling and is not engaging seriously and earnestly in any peace arrangement. They want to stay We reached out to Indian businesses last year, to medium and small enterprises. They will now have what they called a mass volume. Instead of going through every single transaction, it'll be treated in bulk. You have a sort of mass, 50 tons of carbon, when you are below that, you don't do anything. We also heard that Indian businesses see decarbonisation as the way forward. No one wants to be stuck in a high-carbon content industry because it's a story of the past, it's not the story of the future. What you see in India is actually a very bullish approach with technological solutions that will help decarbonisation. Nikhil Ghanekar: A few weeks ago, Commerce minister (Piyush) Goyal spoke about a retaliatory tariff to this non-barrier tariff. 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China is one of our largest trade partners. But it's a trade which runs with over $300 billion deficit. And that is a cause of concern for the EU, the same way India has over $100 billion trade deficit with China. So we're engaging and expecting concrete deeds from China to rebalance the market distortion. The second talking point with China is its support to Russia in the war. We are telling them that it cannot be business as usual if these two things are not addressed. In parallel, we are in the business of increasing diversification because every shock we have faced in the past has shown that whether Covid or wars or China, it is not a good policy to be over-dependent on one single provider. This is also a positive element in the EU-India equation. If India can ramp up the production of photovoltaic panels, of legacy microchips at competitive prices, the world will be better for everyone. Saptarshi Basak: Why does the West not hold Netanyahu to the same standard as Vladimir Putin? As Ambassador, I can only stand by the statements that have been made by the EU. We have not condoned or encouraged these strikes. The fact that Israel, on its own, has decided to strike Iran and precisely because of the consequential nature of these strikes, makes the case for diplomacy even more compelling. This is the single-most important objective today. It's not about qualifying the actions of one or the other, it's really to bring diplomacy on track. On India-EU FTA I prefer to be slower but bring larger goodies than being fast and having a small bag. All the FTAs we have signed have delivered positively for both sides. We are in a positive-sum game Arjun Sengupta: What do you think of the situation in Gaza? Is Europe in some way complicit with Israel's actions? The concerns expressed by the EU regarding the plight of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, is clear, which is repeatedly engaging with Israel, directly discussing with the US to ask Israel to be compliant with international humanitarian law. There is a Foreign Affairs Council shortly, where there will be a review on whether Israel has been compliant with international law. At this point in time, what I can say for sure is that the dramatic developments in Gaza have been fully registered, and for the first time, the question of the suspension of the association agreement between the EU and Israel is on the table, but the first step is the review of evidence. Shubhajit Roy: On the India-Pakistan tensions last month, how concerned were you then and now about any possible sort of escalation in future? On the EU side, there is an understanding of Operation Sindoor as a consequence to the act of terror, of abject attack on civilians. And the way this terror attack was conducted, it was not just to take lives but to inflict pain and create ground for polarisation. The EU recognises India's right to defend itself and are engaging to bring the parties to a ceasefire. We are not in the business of mediation. We are passing on the message that the risk of escalation has to be considered. Now it's for the two parties to engage, to find ways to bring the situation to a level of stability that can benefit not only the two countries but also the region. We have relations with India which are profound, dense, strategic and forward-looking. We also have relations with Pakistan which are certainly not on the same level. We just had a dialogue with Pakistan on non-proliferation, on security and are engaging with them in the fight against terrorism.


The Print
4 hours ago
- The Print
Delhi businesses will no longer need police licence for running operations
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Economic Times
4 hours ago
- Economic Times
Will India's AI Action Summit redefine global AI governance?
Then there's the tech in between After Britain, South Korea and France, it's India's turn to host the next AI Action Summit. GoI has invited public comments until June 30 to shape the summit, which sets the tone for AI governance. India is expected to bring global majority perspectives from the margins to the mainstream and exhibit a unique approach to the delicate balancing acts involved in AI there is the question of whether to regulate, and if so, how. The recent US proposal to ban state AI laws for 10 years is seen by many as pro-innovation. By contrast, the EU's AI Act takes a more precautionary, product-safety approach. China's approach tends to tailor regulation to authoritarian state control. Beyond this dichotomy, India is often seen as capable of offering a third way. The summit presents an opportunity for India to showcase elements of this approach and take on the equally thorny question of how open or closed AI development should be. On openness, India can push beyond the binary of 'open or closed' approaches to releasing AI base models. Some argue that AI models must be kept under the control of a small number of people. Others argue that base models should be released with no restrictions. India has no interest in a future where a handful of US and Chinese companies hold the key to advanced AI models and can arbitrarily restrict their use. At the same time, however, openness should not be understood in a purely libertarian way where people can do whatever they want with these we need is a truly open approach that enables independent evaluation of how the foundation models work so that they can be used to innovate without inadvertently importing the latest US political, one-upmanship-driven ideas or Chinese state censorship. Demanding this openness and transparency, followed by independent testing and evaluation, should be a key goal for India with its new AI Safety Institute (ASI). Additionally, ASI must take the lead in ensuring that systems, particularly in high-impact domains such as public services, are secure and reliable. With its 'Safe and Trusted AI' pillar, the IndiaAI mission is encouraging projects on bias mitigation, privacy enhancement and governance testing-themes that should reflect in the summit's agenda-and affirming the stance taken by the EU to push for 'Trustworthy AI'. It is key here, however, that trustworthiness, privacy and safety are not merely demanded of AI systems but rather achieved through effective governance frameworks. Many of the purported benefits of AI are undermined if the data is not secure, if the system responses are unreliable or biased, and if the public turns against the technology due to high-profile scandals. A telling case is that of the 'Child Benefits Scandal' in the Netherlands, where an opaque and discriminatory system mistakenly flagged thousands of families for benefits-related fraud. In response, the Netherlands is working towards improving AI accountability through human rights impact assessments and public databases of government AI systems. Public trust in AI systems can only be achieved through robust transparency and accountability practices. Centring global conversations and policy imperatives on open, transparent and rights-protecting AI development reduces uncertainty and offers a level playing field for smaller players, even if it is not enshrined in dedicated legislation but through an ecosystem of institutional oversight via ASI and adaptation of existing laws, as is the preference of the IndiaAI logic is straightforward-when a tech is built to be rights-respecting and safe, more people trust it, and therefore more people use it, particularly when it can be independently verified. It's a win-win for commerce, rights and the global majority, such frameworks are necessary because without close attention to the impact of AI models, the region risks becoming a testing ground for nascent and half-baked technology that is developed elsewhere. Their absence could result in 'innovation arbitrage,' a term used to refer to the exploitation of regulatory gaps to deploy questionable technology. The harms of AI-driven systems without oversight are well-documented-be it opaque, unaccountable data collection practices that give people no real choice, or flawed algorithmic decisions that impact people's education, employment and healthcare. In demanding openness, transparency, and security, India has an opportunity to work with the global majority countries to develop shared approaches and demands. Demanding such inclusion and space for leadership would allow us to leverage our collective expertise to ensure 'access for all'-a key goal of GoI. The AI Impact Summit is the moment to bring like-minded countries together and lay out a roadmap for how AI development can be driven in a way that benefits the global majority and allows for individual and regional autonomy, instead of cementing hegemony. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Looking for quick buck in unlisted shares? Better think twice! Small finance banks struggle with perception. Will numbers turn the tide? Aadit Palicha on Zepto dark store raid, dark patterns, and IPO China rare earths blockade: Will electric vehicles assembly lines fall silent? Flames below deck: The silent threat lurking in cargo holds Is India ready to hit the aspirational 8% growth mark? 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