Inauguration of PHD Chamber’s CoE in Green Hydrogen
The Environment Committee of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) in association with the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF), Steinbeis Foundation India, and Steinbeis New Energy Centre inaugurated the Centre of Excellence in Green Hydrogen (CoE-GH) during a one-day seminar on “Opportunities for MSMEs in New Hydrogen Policy” on 2 May 2023 in New Delhi.
Honorable scientist Dr. V.K Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog was the chief guest at the inaugural and offered an enriching presentation on the developments in the sector, the National Green Hydrogen Mission, hydrogen valleys, and a roadmap for the country.
Mr. Saket Dalmia, President, PHDCCI, in his welcome remarks highlighted the significant role and opportunities for MSMEs in the green hydrogen industry. Thereafter, Dr. Ranjeet Mehta, Deputy Secretary General, PHDCCI, briefed the delegates about the activities and contribution of the Chamber while Dr. J.P Gupta, Chair, Environment Committee, presented the vision behind the CoE-GH. He said that the Centre aims to facilitate industries in getting acquainted with the best international standards and practices to handle green hydrogen. The Centre will not only train students but also offer capacity building through special courses for senior management as well as mid-level professionals and operators.
The seminar began with the guest of honour, Mr. Alok Sharma, Executive Director, Centre for High Technology, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG), highlighting the need for industry-academia partnership and R&D for the acceleration of green hydrogen developments in India. The first session of the day kickstarted with distinguished speakers such as Mr. Jagabanta Ningthoujam, Principal, RMI India and Mr. Anuraag Nallapaneni, Manager in Hydrogen, WRI India appraising the delegates about the green hydrogen ecosystem in India, financing opportunities, risks, and operating models for project development.
In the technical session, eminent speakers from India and Germany offered insights on the work being done. During the session, Mr. Jayakrishnan P. Nair, Associate Director for Clean Energy, PwC, presented his study on the pathways for decarbonising industries, while Mr. Rahul Kulshreshta, Lead International, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, introduced the Manthan platform and its benefits to the delegates.
As part of the standardisation session, Prof. Dr. Chitra Rajagopal, Centre of Excellence, IIT Delhi spoke about the importance of hydrogen safety and practices. Ms. Rimali Batra, Associate Partner, DSK Legal, shared her views on the green hydrogen policies and the challenges associated with it.
In the final technical session, Dr. G Ravichandran, Vice President (R&D), Reliance Industries Ltd., spoke about the relevance of hydrogen transition for India, technology readiness level and the efforts by Reliance in the sector. Mr. Abhinav Arora, Vice President of Business Development, HAL Offshore Ltd. stressed the implementation of hydrogen projects and the role of engineering, procurement and construction companies. Dr. Indrajit Shown, Consultant, Steinbeis India presented on the current electrolyser market. Ms. Jyotsna Chaturvedi, Head of Corporate practice, and Mr. Akhand Pratap Singh Chauhan, Advocate, Maheswari & Co. presented on the regulatory compliances for commissioning of green hydrogen projects. Dr. Bertram Lohmueller, Director, Steinbeis GmbH and Dr. Michael Schlick, Advisor for Green Hydrogen, Steinbeis India, spoke about the German markets and global technology.
The seminar witnessed participation from ministries, industry, academia, MSMEs, policy and research institutions, and other stakeholders in the green hydrogen sector.
