• As a major breakthrough in shipping transport and inland waterway transport, Union Minister Jitendra Singh hailed India’s first indigenously developed hydrogen fuel sea vessel.

• The minister, who is also vice president of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) described it as a success story emanating from the joint effort of public and private sectors.

• The country’s first indigenous green hydrogen fuel cell inland waterway vessel may later pave the way for hydrogen fuel driven larger sea vessels or ships.

• It was developed by Cochin Shipyard Ltd featuring a hydrogen fuel cell-based drivetrain built by KPIT, drawing upon the foundational work enabled by the CSIR.

• It represents a transformative step in decarbonising India’s maritime sector, showcasing the potential of green hydrogen as a viable alternative to conventional fossil fuels. 

• Jitendra Singh convened a high-level meeting to review the ongoing initiatives and achievements of the CSIR. 

New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative

• The Union Minister lauded the CSIR-New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (NMITLI), calling it a unique example of collaborative innovation in the public-private space. 

• As India’s largest publicly funded, industry-oriented R&D programme, NMITLI brings together top institutions, industrial partners, and research labs to pursue high-risk technological ventures with the potential for national impact.

• Jitendra Singh highlighted two recent breakthroughs supported under the NMITLI programme. 

• The first is the development and commercialization of CSIR-TECHNOS Raman Spectrometers (CTR-300 and CTR-150), achieved through a partnership between CSIR–Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (CSIR–AMPRI), Bhopal and TechnoS Instruments, Jaipur.

• These high-end Raman spectrometers, approved for marketing in January 2022, represent a significant milestone in India’s scientific instrumentation capabilities.

• The second was the development of fuel cell technology under the Industry-Originated NMITLI programme. 

• In this initiative, KPIT collaborated with CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (CSIR-NCL) Pune and CSIR-Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI) to develop and demonstrate low-temperature PEM fuel cell systems. 

• The expertise developed through this collaboration has since been translated into applications for the marine, defence, and automotive sectors. 

• A major outcome of this effort was the launch of the country’s first indigenous green hydrogen fuel cell inland waterway vessel by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, under the Harit Nauka initiative. 

Additional Read:

Explainer - What is green hydrogen?

Although hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element in the universe, it is rarely found in nature in its elemental form and always must be extracted from other hydrogen-containing compounds. It also means that how well hydrogen contributes to decarbonisation depends on how clean and green the method of production is.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)