NTPC plans fuel cell e-bus services between Delhi and Jaipur, Delhi and Agra

The power company will start similar services in Delhi also. No time frame is fixed so far

NTPC Ltd, India’s largest power producer and a central PSU under the Ministry of Power will start premium fuel cell electric bus services between Delhi and Jaipur and Delhi and Agra. Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) services will be run in Delhi also, power and renewable energy minister R K Singh said on Friday.

“We are going to start these premium bus services with FCEVs,” the minister said at the launch of the Go Electric campaign. He did not, however, specify any time frame for the beginning of these services.

The move to launch this pilot project is to decarbonise the mobility segment. India is moving steadily to clean and green mobility in a bid to reduce its massive crude oil import and to mitigate climate change and local air pollution issues. FCEVs are powered by hydrogen and produce no tailpipe emissions as they emit only water vapour and warm air.

Earlier in April 2020, NTPC’s wholly-owned subsidiary, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) Limited, had issued a global expression of interest (EoI) for ten FCEVs for public transport in Leh and New Delhi.

According to Singh, the long-distance heavy mobility must switch to FCEVs as there is no point in having these huge gas-guzzling trucks and buses. “Although it will be slightly expensive to begin with, gradually prices will come down,” he added.

The government is also in discussions with the ministries of oil and gas, fertiliser and steel on the hydrogen mission to work out a bidding framework.

“We will go for green hydrogen bids after 4-5 months. We already had discussions with the relevant ministries….”, Singh said.

He said if a minimum 10% green hydrogen obligation is imposed on steel and fertiliser units and oil refineries, fuel cell would become competitive in three years.

At the same event, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari suggested that the use of electric vehicles should be made mandatory for all government officials. He informed that one electric vehicle saves almost INR 30,000 per month on fuel cost which comes to around INR 30 crore a month for 10,000 vehicles.

The Go Electric campaign was launched on Friday to spread awareness about the benefits of e-mobility and electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the country.