Nitin Gadkari Launches Hydrogen Vehicle Trials on 10 Indian Corridors

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announced the launch of pilot hydrogen mobility projects across 10 transport corridors in India. Speaking at the Prawas 5.0 event in Gandhinagar, Gadkari described hydrogen as the "fuel of the future" and stated that the trials aim to evaluate the commercial viability of hydrogen for heavy commercial vehicles and long-distance public transport.

The pilot routes include the Greater Noida-Delhi-Agra, Pune-Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi, Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat, and Bhubaneswar-Konark-Puri corridors, among others. The government plans to establish refueling stations in strategic locations such as Vadodara, Kochi, and Bhubaneswar to gather operational data across various climates and traffic patterns. This initiative supports the National Green Hydrogen Mission and aims to lower a national fossil fuel import bill of approximately Rs 22 lakh crore.

Beyond the trials, Gadkari highlighted the transport sector's role in producing about 40 percent of national pollution. He urged the automobile industry to develop cost-effective, indigenous transport systems and called for an increase in domestic bus production. Gadkari also emphasized the need for improved road safety to reduce an annual economic loss estimated at 3 percent of GDP due to road accidents.