Govt initiates pilot projects to deploy hydrogen-powered buses and trucks
Last Updated: Apr 08, 2025, 08:57:00 PM IST
Nitin Gadkari announced that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has started hydrogen vehicle pilot projects. These projects include buses and trucks. The initiative is part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission. Testing will occur on ten routes across India. Major companies like TATA Motors and Reliance are involved. The government has allocated Rs 208 crore for this initiative.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has initiated five pilot projects to deploy hydrogen-powered buses and trucks as a part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission . The pilot projects will include 37 vehicles—15 hydrogen fuel cell-based and 22 hydrogen internal combustion engine-based—and nine hydrogen refueling stations which will be tested on ten designated routes.
These routes include Greater Noida–Delhi–Agra, Bhubaneswar–Konark–Puri, Ahmedabad–Vadodara–Surat, Sahibabad–Faridabad–Delhi, Pune–Mumbai, Jamshedpur–Kalinga Nagar, Thiruvananthapuram–Kochi, Kochi–Edappally, Jamnagar–Ahmedabad, and NH-16 Visakhapatnam–Bayyavaram.
The projects have been awarded to major players, including TATA Motors Ltd , Reliance Industries Limited , NTPC , ANERT, Ashok Leyland , HPCL , BPCL , and IOCL . The initiative has a budget of Rs 208 crore from the Government of India.
All projects are expected to be commissioned within the next 18 to 24 months.
Live Events The objective of these pilots is to promote the development of commercially viable hydrogen-based technologies in the transport sector , particularly for buses and trucks, along with the creation of necessary infrastructure like hydrogen refueling stations.
"These pilot initiatives demonstrate the safe and efficient operation of hydrogen-powered vehicles , assess their technical performance, validate feasibility under real-world conditions, and evaluate economic viability—laying the foundation for future large-scale adoption," wrote Gadkari on social media platform X. — nitin_gadkari (@nitin_gadkari)
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