TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Status of adoption of green hydrogen in the country
2. PM KUSUM Scheme

1. Status of adoption of green hydrogen in the country

Syllabus: GS-3, Economy

Prelims: green hydrogen

Context: The Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power has informed about the status of the adoption of green hydrogen in the country.

Details:

• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing the National Green Hydrogen Mission, approved by the Union Cabinet on 4th January 2023, with an outlay of ₹ 19,744 crore. 
• The overarching objective of the Mission is to make India the Global Hub for production, usage and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives.

The present status of adoption of Green Hydrogen in the country is as follows:

• GAIL Limited has started India’s maiden project of blending Hydrogen in City Gas Distribution grid. 
• Two precent by volume of hydrogen is being blended in CNG network and 5 vol% of hydrogen is being blended into the PNG network at City Gas Station of Avantika Gas Limited (AGL), Indore in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
• NTPC Limited has initiated blending of Green Hydrogen up to 8% (vol/vol) in PNG Network at NTPC Kawas Township, Surat, Gujarat from January 2023.

2. PM KUSUM Scheme

Syllabus: GS-2, Government policies

Prelims: PM KUSUM Scheme

Context: The Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy and Power has informed that the main objectives of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) include de-dieselisation of the farm sector, providing water and energy security to farmers, increasing the income of farmers, and curbing environmental pollution. 

Details:

• The Scheme has three components targeted to achieve solar power capacity addition of 34.8 GW by 31.3.2026 with total central financial support of Rs. 34,422 Cr.

• The Scheme is demand driven and open for all farmers of the country for implementation as per guidelines issued for the Scheme
• Component A: Setting up of 10,000 MW of Decentralized Ground/Stilt Mounted Solar Power Plants on barren/fallow/pasture/marshy/ cultivable land of farmers. Such plants can be installed by individual farmer, Solar Power Developer, Cooperatives, Panchayats and Farmers Producer Organisations.
• Component B: Installation of 14 Lakh Stand-alone Solar Pumps in off-grid areas.
• Component C: Solarisation of 35 Lakh Grid Connected Agriculture Pumps through (i) Individual Pump Solarisation and (ii) Feeder Level Solarisation.
• The beneficiaries under Component-B and Component-C could be individual farmer, Water User Associations, Primary Agriculture Credit Societies and Communities/Cluster Based Irrigation Systems.

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