Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said, “For the first time in the country Tata Cummins and Jharkhand government’s Industrial department have taken such a step. Now vehicles will work on hydrogen. Its manufacturing work will be held in Jharkhand. This will be used in the whole country. This decision of Jharkhand is like a milestone for the rising concerns on the environment.”
Ranchi:
Jharkhand Govt collaborates with Tata Cummins to produce hydrogen vehicles
In order to mitigate the rising pollution level caused by vehicles, the Jharkhand government on Friday inked a pact with TCPL Green Energy Solutions Private Ltd (TGESPL), a joint venture between Tata Motors and Cummins Inc, USA to set up the country’s “first” hydrogen fuel project in Jamshedpur.
Expressing contentment Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday announced that Tata Motors, Tata Cummins and Jharkhand Government’s Industrial department have come together for the first time in the country and taken an initiative to produce hydrogen vehicles.
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said, “For the first time in the country Tata Cummins and Jharkhand government’s Industrial department have taken such a step. Now vehicles will work on hydrogen. Its manufacturing work will be held in Jharkhand. This will be used in the whole country. This decision of Jharkhand is like a milestone for the rising concerns on the environment.”
Soren said a lot of concerns have been raised regarding Green Energy in the whole world.
He said, “We are trying to address the concerns of Green Energy through this development.”
An investment of over Rs 350 crore will be made over the next few years by TCPL GES to produce fuel-agnostic powertrain solutions including Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine, Battery Electric Vehicle Systems, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle Systems, and Fuel Delivery Systems in state-of-the-art production facility, the company said.
Like all other Cummins facilities, the TCPL GES site will comply with lean, clean and green manufacturing operations. The plant is expected to commence production in 2024 in a phased manner.
As per current plans, the Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine will roll out first followed by the Battery Electric Components and Fuel Delivery System-related products, the release said.
This collaboration demonstrates the State Government’s commitment to India’s Panchamrit Tatva to combat climate change and aligns with the Jharkhand Government’s vision of transitioning to a low-carbon economy.
“Jharkhand will be one of the first states in India to open the doors for manufacturing advanced technology products for the commercial vehicle industry in India, which will contribute to reducing the nation’s carbon footprint,” said Soren.
Tata Motors is committed to migrate its facilities to become net zero in greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and is working on multiple technologies to achieve this including electric and hydrogen fuel technology, its Executive Director Girish Wagh said.
The USD 37 billion organisation which is the country’s leading player in the commercial vehicle segment will continue to invest annually over Rs 2,000 crore in the commercial vehicle business, the official said.
“As a part of sustainable transition which is an irreversible megatrend, Tata Motors is committed to become net zero in greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. As a part of that, we have to work towards zero-emission vehicle technologies for our entire portfolio as also ensuring that our facilities emit no Co2 or they become net zero co2 emission…we are working on multiple vehicle technologies,” Wagh told PTI in an interview here.
“Today if you see we have five plants at five locations where we have commercial vehicle plants …in two locations we have passenger vehicle plants. As I said most of the facilities will have to be eventually zero-emission technologies so gradually each of these facilities will start migrating….we have committed to net zero greenhouse gas emission by 2045 so by then you will see our entire facilities being migrated,” Wagh said.
He said technologies include battery electric, hydrogen in fuel which can be used in two technologies whether it is internal combustion engine or fuel cell electric.
“As a part of this, we are actually working on all these technologies on our products and we signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Jharkhand to put up a manufacturing facility for all these technologies. Our first priority here is going to be hydrogen internal combustion engine, but post that we will also come up with battery electric or fuel cell electric as the technology roadmap takes us,” Wagh elaborated.
Wagh said as far as Tata Motor’s heavy commercial vehicle business is concerned more than 80 per cent of the vehicles get manufactured in Jharkhand at the Jamshedpur plant and there is Tata Cummins Joint venture plant which produces engines for this plant here also.
“You can imagine the bulk of our heavy commercial vehicles and engine production happens in the state of Jharkhand. As we move ahead gradually the penetration of zero-emission vehicles will go on increasing and as a first step we are enabling the Jamshedpur facility to make these technologies as we are able to increase the penetration by working even in the ecosystem development …We are looking forward to good penetration of these zero-emission technologies and will ensure that the plant is fully enabled to meet all these requirements,” he said.
He said in terms of numbers there will be an investment of more than Rs 350 crore in hydrogen facility in Jharkhand in the first phase which will be towards enabling the plant for manufacturing the hydrogen internal combustion engines wherein the capacity will be around 10,000 per annum.
“As the ecosystem matures in the country and the penetration of zero emission technologies increase we are fully geared up to meet all those requirements and eventually of course the entire facility will migrate to zero emission technology,” he said.
On the project timeline, he said: “We are working on a very tight timeline and we would see the first engine to roll out during the next calendar year.”