By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI (Reuters – India’s Reliance Industries Ltd said that blue hydrogen production will be possible at a cost competitive with other countries as the company repurposes four billion dollars worth of gasification assets.

Reliance, owned by Mukesh Ambani (billionaire), has revealed plans in the last year to decrease its dependency on oil-to-chemicals and invest in clean energy projects in order to improve its green credentials.

Reliance said that it will first use syngas (produced by petcoke gasesifies) to produce blue hydrogen for its Jamnagar complex, western Gujarat state. Green hydrogen costs may come down later, according to a presentation it released Friday.

Blue hydrogen is hydrogen that’s produced by and eliminates carbon emissions. It captures and stores the emitted CO2. Electrolysis using renewable energy is used to extract green hydrogen from water.

It stated that RIL could be the first to create a hydrogen ecosystem in India, “in the interim”, until the cost of green hydrogen falls.

Ambani wants his company to be net-zero in carbon emissions by 2035. Last month, he announced plans to spend 5.95 trillion rupees (79 billion USD) on green energy projects, including a 100 gigawatt power plant.

Jamanagar is home to the largest refining facility in the world.

“Subsequently the hydrogen from syngas becomes green hydrogen and all of syngas will become chemicals.”

Ambani would like to make green hydrogen for $1/kg before the end of the decade.

($1 equals 75.3188 Indian rupees).