Bharat Benz- Reliance Industries showcase hydrogen-run intercity concept luxury bus at G20 in Goa

Bharat Benz in collaboration with with Reliance Industries on Wednesday announced showcasing a hydrogen fuel cell run luxury intercity  concept bus, which it claims to be India's first. It can run on upto 400 km on a single filling. 

Nitin Seth, CEO, New Mobility at Reliance Industries revealed in a social media post that the bus will go extensive trials and safety validations over next 12 months. The showcasing happened at G20 Presidency which is being held in Goa between July 19-22. 

Seth highlighted that the fuel cell system for the bus has been designed by Reliance Industries using state -of-art components from "international partners with significant localisation." It is planned to be used to conduct an advanced engineering study to explore the viability of Hydrogen Fuel Cell as a propulsion alternative for the future. 

As per Seth, the bus delivers a gross system power of 127 kw and net power of 105 kw which is equivalent to 300 HP of a current diesel bus for intercity applications. 

The development comes even as India has launched a US$ 2.11 billion incentive plan to promote green hydrogen. The plan, which was approved on January 4, 2023, is intended to help the industry attract an investment of up to eight lakh crore rupees to create the green hydrogen chain. Additionally, the plan intends to target 10 percent of the world’s green hydrogen market.

The incentives will help reduce the cost of green hydrogen which is between Rs 320 and Rs 330 currently to between Rs 160 and Rs 170 per kilo by 2030. This will bring in on par with grey hydrogen and other fossil fuels, KPMG has said as per its latest study report.

Green Hydrogen is made by splitting water with an electrical process called electrolysis. When electrolysers are powered by renewable energy, the product is called green hydrogen.

Through the National Hydrogen Mission (NGM) that was launched on August 15, 2021, the GoI aims for an annual production of five million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, which will help save one trillion rupees on fossil fuel imports and cut about 50 MTs of carbon emissions. The Mission which has a total outlay of  Rs 19,744 crore has allocated Rs 17,490 crore for the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme, Rs 400 crore for R&D, and Rs 388 crore towards other mission components. NGM has allocated close to Rs 1,466 crores for the upcoming pilot projects.