New Delhi [India], October 18 (ANI): India and France on Tuesday adopted the “Indo-French Roadmap on the Development of Green Hydrogen” to work in a number of areas including industrial partnerships on energy and for greater knowledge sharing and skill development. “The Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships of France, H.E. Ms Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, and Shri R.K. Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, today adopted the “Indo-French Roadmap on the Development of Green Hydrogen,” French embassy in New Delhi said in a press statement.
According to the embassy statement, France and India believe that decarbonised hydrogen holds immense potential to decarbonize our economies, and both have adopted ambitious national hydrogen strategies. On May 4, on the occasion of their meeting in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clear mandate to foster bilateral cooperation on hydrogen. The adoption of this roadmap delivers on this mandate. “It aims to bring the French and Indian hydrogen ecosystems together in order to establish a reliable and sustainable value chain for decarbonized hydrogen and achieve our common goal to be world leaders in decarbonized hydrogen,” the embassy said.
On this occasion, Minister Chrysoula Zacharopoulou said: “Today, I am proud to open this ambitious new chapter in the Indo-French partnership for the planet. France and India are teaming up to power the decarbonized hydrogen industry of the future. Coming a few weeks ahead of COP27, it sends a strong message of our two countries’ commitment to a low-carbon future. This ambitious and tangible roadmap will help accelerate our clean energy transitions and meet our carbon neutrality targets”.
Through this Roadmap, France and India commit to working together on establishing a regulatory framework for developing a decarbonized hydrogen value chain, covering production, storage, transportation and consumption. It also aims at developing robust carbon-content certification methods to certify the carbon content of decarbonized hydrogen throughout its lifecycle. “Knowledge sharing and skill development programs between certification bodies will be encouraged.”
Both countries wish to foster R&D to improve hydrogen technologies. “To this end, France and India will facilitate cooperation between their relevant research institutions, including by facilitating visa issuance for researchers,” the embassy said. The roadmap will also help support the industrial partnerships between the French and Indian energy industries. “France and India will facilitate contacts between economic actors, facilitate administrative procedures, and support pilot projects where suitable,” the release said. (ANI)
