• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

The Math of Growing Sustainability

Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of CSE, explained how pollution gets trapped near the ground by atmospheric conditions and spirals upward fast. India needs roughly a 60% cut in pollution to consistently meet clean air standards, she said, with vehicle emissions the biggest single source. Pollutants from power plants, vehicles, industry and fires don't just add up either, they react with each other in the air to form secondary pollutants that can be worse than what caused them. Anant Mohan, Head of Pulmonology at AIIMS, New Delhi, said the health toll shows up everywhere, in the eyes, the skin, the lungs, the whole respiratory system. India needs to cut its pollution levels by roughly 60% just to meet its own clean air standards, a figure that came up more than once through the evening. More than 20 speakers gathered at Hyatt Regency, New Delhi, on July 23 for The Green Shift 2026, hosted by Open and the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, to talk about energy, air, finance and the choices that will decide whether India's growth story and its climate deadline can coexist. Opening the summit, Open editor-in-chief S Prasannarajan set the tone for what followed. "We are all environmentalists today," he said, arguing that sustainability had stopped being a niche concern and become central to how societies think about growth and the future. What we need, he said, "is not environmental absolutism. What we need is environmental empathy," before adding the line that stuck: "To remain green is to remain human." Does India actually have a plan to grow without wrecking the planet it's growing on, or just a plan to talk about one? The first panel opened with energy security. Saurabh Kumar, an energy transition enabler and former Vice President of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, argued that India's shift to cleaner power depends on how well the country manages that security through the transition, not after it. Mohit Bhargava, Country Director of the India Energy and Climate Center, picked up the thread. Much of India's domestic gas use, he said, could simply be swapped for electricity. The bigger obstacle is money and infrastructure. Bhargava was clear that the government now has to do more of the heavy lifting, through investment and policy that support long, unglamorous shifts rather than quick wins. That investment gap runs deep. Vibhuti Garg, Director of South Asia at IEEFA, said commercial investors won't back clean energy at scale until the technology has matured and proven itself financially, so public money has to carry the early stages. She cited a study putting India's clean energy investment need at roughly $256 billion between 2026 and 2070, and said the government needs to start green budgeting now to plan for it. Kumar returned to make one more point: AI has a role here too. Used well, he argued, it can optimise electricity demand and grid management, making the whole system more efficient and, in turn, speeding up decarbonisation. The next panel moved from energy to infrastructure. Amit Thakur, Associate Director and Head of CSR at TERI, told businesses in the room that decarbonisation needs to sit inside long-term financial planning, not get treated as a side project. Joshua Wycliffe, Director of the Global Biofuels Alliance, made the case for biofuels as one part of a wider mix of solutions rather than a competitor to solar or wind. Scaling them up is a policy problem as much as a technical one, he said, pointing to India's new mandate requiring 1% of aviation fuel to come from sustainable sources as a small but real push in that direction. Then the conversation turned to something Delhi residents already live with. The panel "Can India Breathe Better?" dealt with air quality, and it didn't pull punches. Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of CSE, explained how pollution gets trapped near the ground by atmospheric conditions and spirals upward fast. India needs roughly a 60% cut in pollution to consistently meet clean air standards, she said, with vehicle emissions the biggest single source. Pollutants from power plants, vehicles, industry and fires don't just add up either, they react with each other in the air to form secondary pollutants that can be worse than what caused them. Anant Mohan, Head of Pulmonology at AIIMS, New Delhi, said the health toll shows up everywhere, in the eyes, the skin, the lungs, the whole respiratory system.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

HUDCO CMD Sanjay Kulshrestha Highlights Financing Roadmap for India’s Urban Bus Sector

The roundtable discussion, organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), was held under the theme “Reinventing Urban Bus: Financial Strategies and Strategic Roadmap for Scaling India’s Bus Sector.” The event brought together policymakers, researchers, multilateral agencies and representatives from civil society to discuss the challenges and opportunities involved in strengthening bus-based public transport in Indian cities.

• Down To Earth

After the water recedes

Large parts of northern and northeast India are flooded yet again, triggering landslides and creating havoc. In 2025, the country recorded extreme weather on all but three of 273 days between January and September, according to an analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment. Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index 2026 placed India ninth among the world’s most climate-affected nations over the past three decades, with roughly 80,000 lives and $170 billion lost to climate disasters since 1995. India is not alone in this reckoning. In the recent past, Nepal’s capital was drenched by relentless rain, Europe baked under a heatwave that pushed temperatures over 40°C and triggered wildfires from southern France to Greece, and over a hundred million Americans sweltered under heat alerts in South Dakota. These are geographically disconnected incidents but symptoms of one condition: infrastructure built for a stable climate is being tested by a variable, uncertain climate. This is the central insight of resilience science, which we can no longer ignore. Our spatial, social, and ecological systems, including roads, power grids, and drainage, are not isolated assets but complex, adaptive parts that influence each other’s behaviour. A blocked drain floods a substation, triggering a blackout that ripples far beyond the street – seemingly small disruptions cascading into large ones. The response so far has been to fund relief after the fact, but resilience science offers a different starting point. This begins with a distinction between three kinds of resilience: specific resilience (defence against one known threat), generic resilience (flexible capacity to absorb any shock), and undesirable resilience (systems that resist change even though they cause the harm).

• Director General Office

India's Growth Through The Climate Lens

Sunita Narain, Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), discusses "India's Growth Through the Climate Lens" at the Times Network Sustainability Conclave 2026.

• DTE - Web

The Cars India's EV Plan Leaves Behind

An analysis in Down To Earth, published by the Centre for Science and Environment, found that the 18 per cent tax on parts makes conversion "unviable in comparison to a new EV." Financing is scarce, it added, and the sums favour fleets over individual owners. More than 30 crore vehicles run on India's roads, and the majority burn petrol or diesel. The country's plan to clean them up runs almost entirely through new sales, electric cars, electric scooters and tighter emission limits on the next model to leave the factory. It says far less about the vehicles already out there, which will keep running, and emitting, for a decade or more before anyone retires them. That silence is where a small industry has set up. Retrofitment takes an existing petrol or diesel car and either rebuilds its drivetrain to add an electric motor and battery to make it cleaner, or strips out the engine altogether. The rules that govern it are still relatively new, and Folks Motor is among the few firms to have opened workshops for it. The pressure that makes such a business viable is newer still. India's scrappage policy, in force since 2021, made automated fitness tests compulsory for both commercial and private vehicles as of June 2024. Older vehicles that fail them are meant to come off the road. The capital even went further. On July 1, 2025, Delhi launched a policy: diesel cars older than 10 years and petrol cars older than 15 were to be denied fuel in Delhi and five neighbouring districts. But the implementation ran into many technical issues. Nevertheless, retrofitting is one of the few legal ways out. The conversions fall under an automotive standard, AIS-123. Both the kit and the workshop must be cleared by an agency such as the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) or the International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT). Under a draft policy floated in early 2026, Delhi offered ₹50,000 each to the first 1,000 cars converted from engine to electric. There is a catch the sales pitch skates over. Only stripping the engine out and going fully electric changes the fuel on the car's papers and earns a reprieve. A hybrid conversion leaves the engine in, and with it, the car's age. Folks Motor was founded in 2016 by Nikhil Anand Khurana, who patented the idea in 2012 as a second-year engineering student and fitted an early version to a Maruti 800 soon after. His starting point was waste. A manual petrol car, he argues, loses much of its energy in the clutch and gearbox, and an electric motor can win some of it back. "Any fuel-efficient internal combustion engine is 20 to 30 per cent efficient," he says. "If you integrate an 80 per cent efficient electric powertrain into it, the overall efficiency gain is somewhere between 40 and 60 per cent." He has little time for the fuel-side answer the government has pushed hardest, the rising share of ethanol in petrol. "Flex fuel does not have a large effect on fuel efficiency," he says. "But a retrofit with a flex-fuel engine can cut emissions by 80 per cent." Bolting on a Second Powertrain The conversion adds a second, electric powertrain to the one the car already has. Folks brands the platform xEV and the system that runs it ReGeN Drive. It sells the conversion two ways, as a kit fitted to a customer's own car, or as a ready-converted car it certifies and resells. Into the engine bay go an electric motor and a generator. A lithium-ion battery pack sits in the boot, taking up about a quarter of it, along with a motor controller. A converter steps the high battery voltage down to the ordinary 12-volt system that runs the lights and the radio. The petrol engine itself is left in place. The system works through the car's existing manual gearbox. In electric mode, it drives gear-free from rest to a claimed 60 to 80 kmph. Beyond that, the petrol engine drives through the normal gears, with the motor assisting, and the setup can run as a series, parallel or plug-in hybrid. What marks it out from an electric car is that the driver need never plug in. The battery refills itself as the car runs, drawing on the engine through the generator and recovering energy under braking. After 70 to 100 km of fuel driving, Folks says, it holds around 50 km of electric range, with an optional plug-in socket for those who want one. For now, the kit fits only a set list of Maruti Suzuki models, all with 1,000cc to 1,500cc petrol engines and manual gearboxes. They run from the Swift and WagonR to the Ertiga and Ciaz. Each car, the company says, is first checked for the condition of its chassis, brakes, suspension, wiring, weight and age. Afterwards, it is subjected to insulation, high-voltage safety, waterproofing, thermal, and road tests. Folks puts the turnaround at one to three days, and the warranty at two years or 50,000 km. An Integrator, Not a Manufacturer Folks sells engineering as its advantage. But when asked which suppliers stand behind the kit, and where it buys its motors, the company would name none, calling the arrangements confidential. The motors, it said, come from a mix of domestic and international suppliers, and depending on the vehicle platform and application, components are sourced from suppliers specialising in electric motors, thermal management, wiring harnesses and other critical subsystems. Its own work is the systems layer, assessing the car, integrating the parts, writing the software that governs them and building the high-voltage safety electronics. In plain terms, the pieces that actually move the car are bought in, and what Folks makes is the integration and the code. The split is common among retrofitters. It also means the durability of a Folks conversion depends heavily on suppliers. The Economics, and Who They Suit Price is one of the obstacles. Folks quotes ₹4 lakh to ₹6 lakh to convert a car, ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh for a three-wheeler or small commercial vehicle, and ₹8 lakh to ₹10 lakh for a bus. A used version of a BS6 hatchback usually costs less than the lower end of that car figure. The wider evidence is not kind to the private buyer. An analysis in Down To Earth, published by the Centre for Science and Environment, found that the 18 per cent tax on parts makes conversion "unviable in comparison to a new EV." Financing is scarce, it added, and the sums favour fleets over individual owners. Khurana's defence rests on running cost, which he puts at roughly half, with fleet operators recovering the outlay in 18 to 24 months. Folks' own figures for that saving are not fixed. Its website offers buyers of the kit 70 per cent lower running costs and 60 per cent better mileage. A ready-converted car is advertised at 30 per cent savings and 40 per cent better mileage. The claim shifts with the product. Folks says it has converted more than 250 vehicles. It also claims its parts sit in some 2 lakh two-wheelers, close to 10 lakh three-wheelers and 3 to 4 lakh pieces of farm equipment, but those are components sold to other manufacturers, not cars it has electrified. On the order book, he is frank about the gap. "When the order book is 150 to 250 crore, I have only been able to fulfil 50 to 70 crore," he says, pointing to shortages of semiconductors and raw materials. The Carmakers' Objection The industry Folks wants to work alongside is, for now, mostly sceptical. Only a few global carmakers, Toyota among them, have shown any warmth to retrofitting. Swapping an engine for a battery and motor, experts say, changes a car's weight, software and handling in ways that need engineering built into the platform and cannot be added afterwards. Khurana meets the safety charge directly. "If these platforms were really unsafe," he asks, "why did ARAI do all the work on them in the first place?" He reads the resistance as commercial rather than technical, since every car converted is a new one unsold. "Even now, when carmakers oppose retrofitment, we tell them this market will grow," he says. His patience with the argument at home, however, is thinning. "India will question everything," he says. "It has been questioning retrofitment even as the world adopts it." The company is now pushing into Europe and export markets. None of this settles whether the conversions work as promised, because the evidence is not yet in. Autocar Professional has not driven a Folks-converted car or visited its plants at Sonipat and Manesar, and the figures here are the company's own. What a fair test would look for is clear enough, and it follows from the company's own claims. Whether the 50 km of electric range holds up after a few years with a battery charged by the engine rather than a plug. Whether a kit fitted in a workshop performs as well as one on a test bench. The problem Folks is chasing is real, and the country has not found a better answer for the fleet it already owns. On the evidence so far, the idea holds promise and is worth considering.

• Director General Office

Prescription for Safer Food

A few years ago, the EU issued directives on the use of antibiotics in the food it imports. This meant animal products, including fish, dairy and honey, produced using antibiotics as growth promoters or to increase yield would not be allowed into the bloc. It also put out a list of antibiotics, deemed critical for humans, which would be banned for veterinary use. When this was released in 2023, India was omitted from the list of countries allowed to export aquaculture and poultry products to the EU from September 2026, when the directive would come into force. This was done, according to the EU, because of lack of information and regulations on the use of antibiotics in India’s foodproducing sectors. The Indian government responded. In October 2024, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published a list of antibiotics banned for use at any stage of the production of meat, milk, poultry, eggs and aquaculture products. It also set tolerance limits—also called Maximum Residue Limit (MRL)—for antibiotics that were permissible, requiring producers to ensure that residues in food did not exceed stipulated thresholds. In May 2025, the Union health ministry issued a draft notification banning the veterinary use of 34 of the 37 antibiotics that the EU classifies as critical for humans. It was notified in September that year and stated that safer alternatives were available for treating diseases in animals. In May 2026, the EU revised its exclusion list and added India to the list of countries permitted to export animal products to the bloc after September 2026. The questions I would like to discuss with you are as follows: One, why do such critical policies related to food safety and public health have to be driven by external consumer pressure? Antibiotic resistance is a silent pandemic, and we know that the Indian government is deeply committed to the issue. We as a country cannot afford the health burden of lifesaving medicines becoming ineffective and hence, the agency and not by the company exporting the food item. It will also conduct audits in exporting countries and spot checks at the border. The system is designed to push the red button and ratchet up the numbers of physical inspection if one item fails the analytic check; multiple failures could lead to serious consequences. But what about the food that is not exported? The third question is, how can farmers remain productive without the use of antibiotics—or for that matter, pesticides and other toxins? Ultimately, this is not just a regulatory challenge; it requires changes in the way food is grown. Farmers use antibiotics for three purposes—to promote growth in animals; to prevent diseases because of lack of hygiene or because of high density of animals; and then to treat diseases. Now farmers will need to prevent diseases, not by using antibiotics but by improving conditions in which animals are bred and food is produced. The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has worked with its farmers to promote ethnomedicine—traditional practices for managing animal health—and showed it is possible to reduce the use of antibiotics. This is the win-win we need in our world. government has been taking steps to contain the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals. In 2010, based on an analytical study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the government issued an advisory against the use of antibiotics in honey, which was later followed by a ban. In 2019, it banned the use of colistin in food-producing animals and in aquaculture—this is because colistin is the top-reserved antibiotic for humans and needs full protection against overuse. Then policymakers were contemplating bans on antibiotics in animal feed and other steps but stopped short of adopting a comprehensive framework. This was finally done, prodded by the need to protect our export markets. What is good is that these regulations are not just for food destined for the EU, but will also apply to the meat, milk, eggs, honey and fish sold within India. It will protect our health. The issue is not just about antibiotic use; it is about the safety of the food we consume. We need robust standards for pesticide residues, food additives and other toxins—not just to ensure that India’s food is good for export but also to protect our health. A quick dive into the US Food and Drug Administration’s import refusal database shows that some 2,700 food consignments from India were rejected in 2024-25. These included spices, rice, pulses and lentils, flagged for excessive or unapproved pesticide residues. This leads to the next question: how will these standards be enforced? Importing countries have developed monitoring systems based on quality and residue checks in authorised laboratories and even at their borders. The EU plans to ensure compliance with its directive by asking every single shipment to have a health certificate, issued by a government

• Renewable Energy

भारत ने रचा इतिहास : रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी का उत्पादन पहली बार 100 गीगावाट के पार, बिजली सप्लाई में रिकॉर्ड 42.79% हिस्सेदारी

India RE Record: भारत ने स्वच्छ ऊर्जा (Clean Energy) के क्षेत्र में एक और वैश्विक कीर्तिमान स्थापित कर दिया है. देश के कुल बिजली आपूर्ति ढांचे में पहली बार परिवर्तनीय नवीकरणीय ऊर्जा (Variable Renewable Energy - VRE) यानी सौर और पवन ऊर्जा के संयुक्त उत्पादन 100 गीगावाट (GW) के ऐतिहासिक आंकड़े को पार कर गया है.यह अभूतपूर्व सफलता इस महीने में लगातार दो दिन 13 और 14 जुलाई 2026 को दर्ज की गयी. इसके साथ ही, कुल पावर सप्लाई पाई (Power Supply Pie) में वीआरई (VRE) की हिस्सेदारी 42.79 प्रतिशत तक पहुंच गयी, जो अब तक का सबसे उच्चतम स्तर है. टूट गए सारे पुराने रिकॉर्ड : दोपहर 12 बजे रचा इतिहास इस ऐतिहासिक मील के पत्थर से जुड़े मुख्य आंकड़े इस प्रकार हैं. तत्काल उत्पादन (Instantaneous Generation): 13 जुलाई 2026 को दोपहर 12:05 बजे जमीन पर स्थापित यूटिलिटी-स्केल VRE जनरेशन 103.7 गीगावाट के सर्वकालिक उच्च स्तर पर पहुंच गया. पवन ऊर्जा की छलांग : ठीक एक दिन पहले (12 जुलाई) की शाम को पवन ऊर्जा (Wind Power) ने अपने अब तक के सबसे उच्चतम स्तर 36.6 गीगावाट के आंकड़े को पार किया था. दूसरे दिन भी निरंतरता : 14 जुलाई को भी रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी का जनरेशन और ग्रिड में इसकी हिस्सेदारी इसी रिकॉर्ड स्तर पर बनी रही. भीषण गर्मी में 270 GW की पीक डिमांड को मिला सहारा इस साल गर्मियों के मौसम में भीषण हीटवेव (लू) और कूलिंग (एसी/कूलर) की भारी मांग के कारण भारत की बिजली की मांग 2 बार 270 GW के अब तक के सबसे उच्चतम स्तर पर पहुंच गयी थी. लेकिन इस भारी दबाव के बावजूद, रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी ने ग्रिड पर पारंपरिक स्रोतों (कोयला आदि) का बोझ काफी हद तक कम किया. उदाहरण के लिए, जब 25 अप्रैल को बिजली की मांग 270 गीगावाट थी, तब पीक आवर्स के दौरान सौर ऊर्जा (Solar Power) ने 57 गीगावाट और दोपहर के समय रिकॉर्ड 81 गीगावाट का योगदान दिया, जो इसके इतिहास में सबसे अधिक है. 50 फीसदी के करीब गैर-जीवाश्म ईंधन की हिस्सेदारी वर्ष 2026 की गर्मी में अप्रैल महीने से ही कुल बिजली आपूर्ति में रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी (RE) की हिस्सेदारी 35 से 42 प्रतिशत के बीच बनी हुई है. जब इसमें जल विद्युत (Hydro) और परमाणु ऊर्जा (Nuclear) को भी जोड़ दिया जाता है, तो देश की कुल बिजली आपूर्ति में गैर-जीवाश्म ईंधन (Non-Fossil Fuel) का हिस्सा लगभग 50 प्रतिशत तक पहुंच जाता है. ग्लोबल बेंचमार्क बन रहा भारत का बदलाव : एक्सपर्ट क्लाइमेट ट्रेंड्स की एनर्जी लीड श्रेया जय कहती हैं कि यह भारत में रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी के लिए एक ऐतिहासिक वर्ष है. देश के ग्रिड ने न केवल 100 गिगावाट से अधिक रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी को अवशोषित (Absorb) किया, बल्कि यह पूरी तरह सुरक्षित और घटना-मुक्त रहा. अब पारंपरिक स्रोतों की जगह रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी अपनी जगह पक्की कर रहा है. नेशनल सोलर एनर्जी फेडरेशन ऑफ इंडिया के सीईओ सुब्रमण्यम पुलीपाका की नजर में यह मील का पत्थर दर्शाता है कि एक बड़ी और तेजी से बढ़ती अर्थव्यवस्था ऊर्जा सुरक्षा, सामर्थ्य (Affordability) और कार्बन मुक्ति (Decarbonization) को एक साथ कैसे हासिल कर सकती है. भारत का यह बदलाव अब एक ग्लोबल बेंचमार्क बन रहा है. एम्बर के वरिष्ठ ऊर्जा विश्लेषक नेशविन रोड्रिगेज कहते हैं कि 100 गीगावाट का यह आंकड़ा भारत के पावर सिस्टम में एक स्ट्रक्चरल शिफ्ट को दर्शाता है. रिन्यूएबल एनर्जी अब केवल पारंपरिक ऊर्जा की पूरक नहीं रह गयी है, बल्कि राष्ट्रीय बिजली मांग को पूरा करने का केंद्र बनती जा रही है. भविष्य की चुनौतियां : एनर्जी स्टोरेज और ग्रिड फ्लेक्सिबिलिटी की जरूरत इस बड़ी सफलता के साथ ही विशेषज्ञों ने भारत के सामने अगली सीमाओं और चुनौतियों को भी रेखांकित किया है. रात के समय और गैर-धूप वाले घंटों में चौबीसों घंटे बिजली आपूर्ति सुनिश्चित करने के लिए बड़े पैमाने पर बैटरी स्टोरेज सिस्टम को बढ़ाना होगा. राज्यों के बिजली बेड़ों को अधिक लचीला बनाना होगा, ताकि बिजली की बर्बादी (Curtailment) न हो. सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (CSE) के निवित कुमार यादव के अनुसार, आने वाले समय में क्लीन एनर्जी वेस्ट (जैसे सोलर पैनल स्क्रैप) के सर्कुलर इकॉनोमी प्लानिंग पर भी नीतिगत ध्यान देना जरूरी होगा.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

भारत की पहली हाइड्रोजन ट्रेन दौड़ी: क्या मेट्रो और बुलेट ट्रेन भी H2 फ्यूल पर चलेंगी? जानिए एक्सपर्ट का जवाब

सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट की इलेक्ट्रिक मोबिलिटी प्रोग्राम की सीनियर प्रोग्राम मैनेजर मौसमी मोहंती ने कहा, हाइड्रोजन फ्यूल अलग से बनाने के लिए उसे कंप्रेस किया जाता है. उसे फिर रीफ्यूलिंग स्टेशन तक लाते हैं और ट्रेन में लगे स्टोरेज टैंक में भरते हैं. ट्रेन के लिए जींद में हाइड्रोजन प्लांट और रीफ्यूलिंग सेंटर बनाया गया है. हाइड्रोजन रीफ्यूलिंग में कंप्रेशन सिस्टम, हाई प्रेशर स्टोरेज टैंक, डिस्पेंसिंग पार्ट्स लगते हैं. रिफ्यूलिंग प्लांट में लीकेज और ज्यादा तापमान न हो, इसका ध्यान रखने को अलर्ट सिस्टम भी होता है.

• Director General Office

What the Western Ghats map leaves out

More than a decade after the first draft notification, the Centre is moving to notify the Western Ghats as an ecologically sensitive area (ESA), State by State, starting with Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Goa. The sixth draft, issued on July 31, 2024, covers about 56,825 sq km across six States and lapses in late July 2026. It arrives in the middle of another monsoon and another set of landslides: a fresh slide on an under-construction tunnel road in Wayanad this July, two years after the Mundakkai and Chooralmala disaster that killed several hundred people. The public debate remains the same: conservation versus development, and the Centre versus resistant States. Beneath that debate lies a policy choice that shapes far more than the headlines suggest. That choice is the line the Kasturirangan Committee drew in 2013 between “natural” and “cultural” landscapes. Using satellite imagery, it classified about 60 per cent of the Western Ghats’ roughly 1,64,280 sq km area as cultural landscape, including settlements, farms, and plantations. The remaining 40 per cent, consisting largely of relatively unfragmented forests, was classified as natural landscape, from which the ESA was carved out. The restrictions that give the notification its force, including bans on new mining and quarrying, red-category industries, thermal power projects, and large construction, apply only within this natural landscape. The cultural landscape is excluded. This is presented as a technical boundary. It is not. It reflects a policy decision about which landscapes are considered worth protecting. The line closely follows the most populated, most contested, and most plantation-dominated parts of the Western Ghats. Those are the areas that now fall outside the regulatory framework. State governments recognised the implications immediately, which is why many of their objections amount to demands for a larger carve-out. Kerala wants the Cardamom Hills and parts of Idukki excluded. Karnataka, which has the largest proposed ESA, rejects the framework altogether. Maharashtra has sought the exclusion of 378 villages, while Goa has asked for 21. The distinction between natural and cultural landscapes has become the mechanism through which inhabited and commercially active slopes are left out of the map. The problem is that these are also the slopes where the risk is greatest. The deadliest recent landslides in the Western Ghats have occurred not in remote forests but in settled plantation areas. Wayanad’s Meppadi region, identified as ecologically sensitive by the Gadgil Committee in 2011, lies within the kind of terrain that the later framework places outside protection. No single landslide can be directly attributed to this policy choice. Slope failures have multiple causes, with extreme rainfall playing the largest role. Even so, the pattern is difficult to ignore. Quarrying, slope-cutting, and unregulated construction continue in the cultural landscape under lighter scrutiny, while the people living below these activities bear the consequences. Sunita Narain, who served on the Kasturirangan Committee, has written that the panel chose to protect what remained of the natural landscape, treating the altered areas as difficult to restore. Kerala later pushed the boundary further. In 2018, the Centre removed another 3,115 sq km from the protected regime at the State’s request. The second exclusion is less visible but may prove more significant over time. By defining the cultural landscape as a zone of economic activity that should remain outside regulation, the framework treats the people who live there as those to be exempted from restrictions, rather than as participants in conservation. This marks a departure from an alternative approach that already exists in Indian law. The Forest Rights Act, 2006, and the Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights it recognises, give gram sabhas the legal authority to protect, manage, and govern their forests and commons. Gadgil’s original report, despite its controversial reputation, moved in this direction. As Narain has noted, it argued for community rights and for local people as partners in conservation. The Kasturirangan framework took a different path by concentrating decision-making within the environmental bureaucracy. Across much of the cultural landscape, Community Forest Resource rights remain absent. Residents receive neither the protection that stronger regulation of quarrying and construction could provide nor the legal authority to manage the forests and slopes on which they depend. They are excluded from both. Is the carve-out pro-farmer? The carve-out is often defended as being pro-farmer, protecting smallholders from distant regulation. Some of that concern is genuine. Yet the biggest beneficiaries of the exemption are commercial quarrying, large plantations, and construction, rather than marginal cultivators. The people the exemption is meant to protect are often the same people exposed when a hillside above a plantation collapses. This is not an argument for reviving the broad interpretation of the Gadgil Committee’s recommendations and extending blanket restrictions across inhabited areas. That approach, whether or not it accurately reflected Gadgil’s intent, contributed to the rejection of the original report and deepened public distrust. As Sunita Narain has noted, poorly designed restrictions in other eco-sensitive areas have alienated poor communities and weakened support for conservation. The point is simpler. A rights-based alternative already exists, and the current framework does not make use of it. A more defensible approach would begin by recognising the cultural landscape for what it is. Agroforestry, home gardens, paddy fields, sacred groves, and even shaded plantations help regulate water, stabilise slopes, and store carbon. Treating these landscapes as “not nature” excludes those ecological functions from the calculations that determine protection. A broader approach to valuation, one that considers ecological and cultural value alongside economic value, would recognise their contribution. Regulation of genuinely destructive activities such as quarrying, slope-cutting, and large construction could then be linked to community governance under Community Forest Resource rights, rather than relying solely on the forest department. The Centre is already considering financial incentives for States to support conservation. Part of that support could be directed to the gram sabhas and local communities that maintain these ecological services, rather than flowing only to State governments. None of this is straightforward. Implementation of the Forest Rights Act across the Western Ghats remains uneven. Community Forest Resource rights are limited in the plantation-dominated districts of Kerala and Karnataka. Payment schemes also carry the risk of being captured by powerful interests. These are challenges that call for careful design, not reasons to leave the people of the cultural landscape outside the framework. As the notifications are issued State by State, attention will focus on the number of square kilometres brought under protection. The more important questions are which landscapes the State considers worth protecting and who is given the authority to protect them. The distinction between natural and cultural landscapes answers both by excluding the same people twice: first from the map of protected nature, and then from the institutions responsible for protecting it. A framework that treats the cultural landscape as a source of ecological value and community rights, rather than simply as an exemption, would lead to a different outcome. The monsoon will continue to check that choice every year. Deepanjana Saha is a doctoral scholar and SAGE Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Hydrogen-powered trains likely to play niche role in India: Experts

"A hydrogen fuel cell train is essentially an electric train that generates its own electricity on board. Instead of drawing power from overhead lines, hydrogen stored in high-pressure tanks reacts with oxygen from the air inside a fuel cell to produce electricity," Moushumi Mohanty, senior programme manager, electric mobility programme, at New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment, said.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Hydrogen Train: पहली हाइड्रोजन ट्रेन में क्या खास, अश्विनी वैष्णव ने बताईं बारीकियां, एक्सपर्ट क्या बोले?

भारत की पहली हाइड्रोजन ईंधन से चलने वाली ट्रेन का शुक्रवार को उद्घाटन हुआ। प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी इसे हरी झंडी दिखाकर रवाना किया। जींद-सोनीपत रेलखंड पर चलने वाली इस ट्रेन को देश की हरित परिवहन पहल की बड़ी उपलब्धि माना जा रहा है। इसी बीच केंद्रीय मंत्री अश्विनी वैष्णव ने ट्रेन की बारीकियां के बारे में जानकारी दी। केंद्रीय मंत्री ने क्या बताया? उन्होंने कहा कि हाइड्रोजन फ्यूल सेल बिजली पैदा करता है। इसमें लगे कन्वर्टर मोटर को चलाते हैं। पूरी तकनीक का भारत में विकास होना और बौद्धिक संपदा अधिकार (आईपी) का हमारे पास होना इसकी सबसे महत्वपूर्ण बात है। इस पर हमारा पूरा आईपी अधिकार है। पूरे सिस्टम का विकास भारत में हुआ है। इसका परीक्षण और प्रमाणीकरण विश्व की सर्वश्रेष्ठ एजेंसी की ओर से किया गया है। इसे उनके द्वारा पूरी तरह से प्रमाणित किया गया है, इसलिए यह एक बहुत ही सुरक्षित तकनीक है। खासियत को लेकर केंद्रीय मंत्री ने क्या बोला? यह एक हरित तकनीक है। इससे केवल पानी का उत्सर्जन होता है।सबसे अच्छी बात यह है कि रेलवे में लॉन्च होने के बाद, इस पूरी तकनीक को अब अन्य क्षेत्रों में भी इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है। उदाहरण के लिए, इसका उपयोग समुद्री क्षेत्र में किया जा सकता है। इसी तकनीक का एक छोटा संस्करण ट्रकों में इस्तेमाल किया जा सकता है। इसका उपयोग छोटी नावों और मध्यम आकार की मछली पकड़ने वाली नावों जैसे विभिन्न अन्य अनुप्रयोगों में भी किया जा सकता है। तकनीक का विकास सबसे महत्वपूर्ण उपलब्धि है। एक बार जब भारत अपनी तकनीक विकसित कर लेता है, तो हम इसे कई क्षेत्रों में उपयोग कर सकते हैं। हमें प्रौद्योगिकी के विकास के लिए किसी और पर निर्भर नहीं रहना पड़ेगा। विशेषज्ञों ने क्या कहा? वहीं, विशेषज्ञों के अनुसार इस ट्रेन के शुभारंभ से ऊर्जा-गहन रेलवे क्षेत्र के लिए जीवाश्म ईंधन पर निर्भरता से मुक्ति का संकेत देगा, लेकिन यह मुख्यधारा का समाधान बनने के बजाय एक खास भूमिका निभाने की संभावना है, क्योंकि देश के अधिकांश ब्रॉड-गेज नेटवर्क का विद्युतीकरण पहले से ही हो चुका है। हाइड्रोजन का दीर्घकालिक योगदान पर क्या कहा? विशेषज्ञों ने कहा कि भारत के ऊर्जा परिवर्तन और जलवायु लक्ष्यों में हाइड्रोजन का दीर्घकालिक योगदान इस बात पर निर्भर करेगा कि नवीकरणीय बिजली का उपयोग करके उत्पादित किफायती हरित हाइड्रोजन उपलब्ध है या नहीं और क्या यह किसी विशिष्ट मार्ग के लिए आर्थिक रूप से प्रतिस्पर्धी साबित होता है। शिव नादर विश्वविद्यालय के इंजीनियरिंग विभाग के प्रोफेसर हरप्रीत सिंह अरोरा ने पीटीआई को बताया, 'सरल शब्दों में, हाइड्रोजन-फ्यूल-सेल-प्रोपल्शन सिस्टम एक फ्यूल सेल के अंदर हवा से ऑक्सीजन के साथ हाइड्रोजन को मिलाकर बिजली उत्पन्न करता है। यह बिजली ट्रेन के मोटरों को शक्ति प्रदान करती है।' हाइड्रोजन ट्रेनों की भूमिका सीमित रहने की संभावना? नई दिल्ली स्थित थिंक टैंक सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट में इलेक्ट्रिक मोबिलिटी प्रोग्राम की वरिष्ठ कार्यक्रम प्रबंधक मौशुमी मोहंती ने कहा, 'भारत के ब्रॉड-गेज रेलवे नेटवर्क का 95 प्रतिशत से अधिक हिस्सा पहले से ही विद्युतीकृत है, हाइड्रोजन ट्रेनों की भूमिका सीमित रहने की संभावना है, न कि यह मुख्यधारा का समाधान बनेंगी।' कितने किलोमीटर की दूरी तय करेगा? भारत को शुक्रवार को अपनी पहली हाइड्रोजन-चालित ट्रेन मिलने जा रही है, जब प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी हरियाणा के जींद से सोनीपत तक इस यात्री सेवा का उद्घाटन करेंगे। दोनों शहरों के बीच 89 किलोमीटर की दूरी दो घंटे में तय की जाएगी, जिसमें ट्रेन 12 मध्यवर्ती स्टेशनों पर रुकेगी।

• Sustainable Habitat

TIL Ecopreneur Awards 2026: Experts discuss AI's growing energy footprint, role in clean energy

A panel discussion titled "AI vs Climate: Is Intelligence Becoming the Planet's Biggest Energy Consumer?" brought together Nidhi Sarin, director, energy transition, Global Energy Alliance; Kiran K R, chief digital officer, Adani Green Energy; and Rajneesh Sareen, programme director, sustainable habitat programme at the Centre for Science and Environment. Speaking on AI's energy requirements, Kiran said data centres account for a significant share of the electricity consumption when it comes to growth of AI. "For every query we put into AI bots, a lot of energy is consumed," he said, adding that as AI becomes more affordable and widely adopted, its overall energy consumption is expected to rise alongside falling costs.

• Industrial Pollution

255 Steel Plants get Mandatory Carbon Targets

The MoEFCC recently issued a draft notification under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, bringing 255 steel plants under the carbon credit trading scheme (CCTS) compliance net. The regulation establishes legally binding carbon targets for the Indian steel sector, which accounts for 10% to 12% of the nation’s total emissions. Moving away from older energy-consumption metrics, the new framework tracks the exact greenhouse gases released per ton of metal produced across 148.7 million tons of production. Trajectory: Individual steel plants face intensity reduction targets ranging from 2.1% to 9.3%, with a sector-wide average reduction of roughly 5.5%. High-emitting plants face the sharpest reduction curves. Calibration: To establish realistic baselines, the government recalibrated data for 126 units after stakeholder feedback, tightening the target for 24 plants and relaxing it for 73. Timeline: Built on FY2023-24 operational data, the draft was issued on June 26, 2026, with a 60-day feedback window. Active compliance obligations officially begin in FY2026-27. Enforcement: Outperforming entities earn tradable carbon credit certificates. Those falling short must purchase certificates or pay environmental compensation equal to twice the average market price. While the framework sets clear baseline targets, the lack of sub-sector classifications could slow deep industrial decarbonization. Ground reality: Rather than waiting for final rules to take effect, many Indian steel enterprises are actively changing how they operate to meet the new performance metrics. • Clean Power: Many firms are signing long-term corporate power purchase agreements for solar and wind power to clean up their factory electricity footprints. For instance, AM/NS India partnered with AM Green Energy and Siemens Gamesa to secure a 989-MW solar-wind hybrid project. This contract will supply its Hazira plant, eliminating 1.5 million tons of emissions annually. • Waste: Factories are putting in advanced waste heat recovery systems to capture and reuse thermal energy that would otherwise be lost. For instance, Tata Steel deployed coke dry quenching (CDQ) and blast furnace gas (BFG) recovery systems to optimize internal power generation. At Kalinganagar, the CDQ system cools 1,000°C coke at 200 tons per hour, cutting CO₂ emissions by up to 0.14 tons and dust by 400 grams per ton of coke. Simultaneously, high-pressure BFG routed through turbines generates 15–20 MW per furnace block, helping Jamshedpur recycle 97.56% of by-product gases. This dual recovery dropped specific energy consumption to 5.76 Gcal per tonne of crude steel and reduced the blast furnace fuel rate to 533–548 kg per ton of hot metal. • Green Inputs: Many industrial players are expanding scrap metal recycling and running pilot projects to inject green hydrogen into direct reduced iron plants, lowering their reliance on coking coal. For example, JSW Steel commissioned a 10-MW green hydrogen plant at its Vijayanagar facility. The site injects 3,800 tons of clean hydrogen annually, partially replacing coking-coal-derived fuels. Scenario analysis: To evaluate the long-term impact of these carbon rules, industry experts balance near-term administrative onboarding against structural systemic challenges. 1: Onboarding vs. Carbon Lock-In: The current framework offers a smooth entry point, requiring roughly a 2% annual reduction. While large plants can achieve this through low-cost engineering adjustments, environmental analysts fear this low baseline risks a carbon lock-in. As Parth Kumar, Program Manager, Centre for Science and Environment, notes, early targets drive basic energy efficiency, but the real test is whether future cycles will force deeper structural shifts rather than letting companies extend the life of coal-heavy infrastructure. 2: The Credit Loophole: Unlike rules for cement or aluminum, this notification applies a single standard without sub-sector classifications. Researchers from Prayas (Energy Group) warn that treating integrated mills and small, coal-based induction furnaces identically creates a loophole. Highly polluting smaller units might simply buy cheap, oversupplied carbon credits rather than investing capital to upgrade local setups, mirroring failures seen in older industrial energy schemes. 3: A Trade Shield Against Global Tariffs: Conversely, a domestic market shields metal exporters facing the European Union’s CBAM. By verifying emission data and establishing a local price under domestic targets, the system provides audited records to offset cross-border tariffs. NITI Aayog papers underscore that the framework is vital to insulate Indian heavy manufacturing from emerging global trade barriers. The impact: This policy forces 255 Indian steel plants to clean up their operations by tracking exact emissions. In the short term, factories will easily meet these targets through basic, low-cost engineering fixes. However, because the rules treat large, modern mills and small, dirty furnaces exactly the same, smaller units might just buy cheap credits instead of fixing their pollution. On the bright side, having these audited carbon records gives Indian exporters a massive advantage, acting as a shield to protect them from paying heavy carbon taxes when shipping steel to Europe.

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Is India's hydrogen train the future? Experts say not yet

India is set to enter the hydrogen-powered rail era on Friday with the launch of its first hydrogen fuel-cell train, a move experts say represents an important step in the country's clean-energy transition, even though the technology is unlikely to become the backbone of the national railway network. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the passenger service between Jind and Sonipat in Haryana, covering the 89-km route in about two hours with stops at 12 stations. Powered by a 1,200-kilowatt hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system, the 10-coach train will operate at a maximum speed of 75 kmph, according to the Ministry of Railways. While the project showcases India's push towards cleaner transport, experts believe hydrogen-powered trains will mainly serve routes where electrification is difficult, as more than 95 per cent of India's broad-gauge railway network is already electrified. How hydrogen trains work Unlike conventional electric trains that draw power from overhead lines, hydrogen trains generate electricity onboard. "In simple terms, a hydrogen-fuel-cell-propulsion system works by combining hydrogen with oxygen from the air inside a fuel cell to produce electricity. This electricity powers the train's motors," Harpreet Singh Arora, professor at Shiv Nadar University's School of Engineering, told PTI. Moushumi Mohanty, senior programme manager, Electric Mobility Programme, at the Centre for Science and Environment, explained the technology further. "A hydrogen fuel cell train is essentially an electric train that generates its own electricity on board. Instead of drawing power from overhead lines, hydrogen stored in high-pressure tanks reacts with oxygen from the air inside a fuel cell to produce electricity," she said. "The only direct emission from the fuel cell is water vapour." The hydrogen used by the train is produced separately, compressed, transported to the refuelling station and then stored in onboard high-pressure tanks. "The hydrogen-refuelling infrastructure consists of hydrogen production or supply facilities, compression systems, high-pressure storage tanks, dispensing equipment and safety systems. Hydrogen is compressed, typically to high pressures, stored on site and transferred into onboard tanks through specialised dispensing systems," Mohanty said. The Railways has established an indigenous hydrogen storage and refuelling facility at Jind. Both the train and the refuelling station are equipped with hydrogen leak detectors, heat sensors and automatic shut-off systems to enhance safety. A cleaner alternative Hydrogen fuel produces no carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides or particulate matter during operation, making it an attractive alternative to fossil fuels. Experts, however, stress that its environmental benefits depend largely on how the hydrogen itself is produced. "The introduction of a hydrogen-powered train is significant for India's energy transition as it represents a move toward cleaner, low-emission transport. It supports India's climate goals by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and lowering greenhouse-gas emissions, especially in sectors like railways that consume large amounts of energy," Arora said. Mainak Mukherjee, product analyst at global technology firm SLB, said the biggest challenge lies in producing green hydrogen. "The sustainability of hydrogen as a clean-energy source depends not only on the fuel itself, but also on how it is produced, the infrastructure that supports its use and the sectors in which it is applied. To fully realise its decarbonisation potential, greater emphasis should be placed on green hydrogen, which is produced through water electrolysis using renewable electricity," he said. Mohanty echoed the view. "Hydrogen deployment should prioritise green-hydrogen production, minimise leakage across the supply chain, improve fuel-cell efficiency and focus on applications where direct electrification is not feasible." Why experts see only a niche role in India Countries such as Germany, France, Japan, China and the United States have already introduced or tested hydrogen-powered trains, primarily on regional routes where railway electrification is limited. Experts believe India is likely to follow a similar path. "The experiences of Germany and France demonstrated that hydrogen-powered trains can complement diesel trains to a certain extent, on non-electrified regional rail lines, where electrification is technically difficult or economically expensive. Successful deployment would depend on factors such as route suitability, shared re-fuelling infrastructure and the use of green hydrogen to maximise emissions reduction," Mukherjee said. Mohanty said India's extensive railway electrification reduces the need for hydrogen-powered trains on most routes. "Given that more than 95 per cent of India's broad-gauge railway network is already electrified, hydrogen trains are likely to have a niche role rather than becoming the mainstream solution." "Their long-term contribution to climate goals will depend on the availability of affordable green hydrogen and whether they prove economically competitive for specific routes," she added. Arora noted that railways remain an ideal testing ground for hydrogen technology because of their predictable routes and operating schedules. "In addition, they (trains) require high power over long distances, which hydrogen can efficiently provide." He added, "Hydrogen fuel cells typically have an efficiency of around 50-60 per cent in converting hydrogen into electricity. The efficiency of producing hydrogen through electrolysis is generally about 60-70 per cent, depending on the technology and conditions used."

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

Is India's hydrogen train the future? Experts say not yet

India is set to enter the hydrogen-powered rail era on Friday with the launch of its first hydrogen fuel-cell train, a move experts say represents an important step in the country's clean-energy transition, even though the technology is unlikely to become the backbone of the national railway network. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the passenger service between Jind and Sonipat in Haryana, covering the 89-km route in about two hours with stops at 12 stations. Powered by a 1,200-kilowatt hydrogen fuel-cell propulsion system, the 10-coach train will operate at a maximum speed of 75 kmph, according to the Ministry of Railways. While the project showcases India's push towards cleaner transport, experts believe hydrogen-powered trains will mainly serve routes where electrification is difficult, as more than 95 per cent of India's broad-gauge railway network is already electrified. How hydrogen trains work Unlike conventional electric trains that draw power from overhead lines, hydrogen trains generate electricity onboard. "In simple terms, a hydrogen-fuel-cell-propulsion system works by combining hydrogen with oxygen from the air inside a fuel cell to produce electricity. This electricity powers the train's motors," Harpreet Singh Arora, professor at Shiv Nadar University's School of Engineering, told PTI. Moushumi Mohanty, senior programme manager, Electric Mobility Programme, at the Centre for Science and Environment, explained the technology further. "A hydrogen fuel cell train is essentially an electric train that generates its own electricity on board. Instead of drawing power from overhead lines, hydrogen stored in high-pressure tanks reacts with oxygen from the air inside a fuel cell to produce electricity," she said. "The only direct emission from the fuel cell is water vapour." The hydrogen used by the train is produced separately, compressed, transported to the refuelling station and then stored in onboard high-pressure tanks. "The hydrogen-refuelling infrastructure consists of hydrogen production or supply facilities, compression systems, high-pressure storage tanks, dispensing equipment and safety systems. Hydrogen is compressed, typically to high pressures, stored on site and transferred into onboard tanks through specialised dispensing systems," Mohanty said. The Railways has established an indigenous hydrogen storage and refuelling facility at Jind. Both the train and the refuelling station are equipped with hydrogen leak detectors, heat sensors and automatic shut-off systems to enhance safety. A cleaner alternative Hydrogen fuel produces no carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides or particulate matter during operation, making it an attractive alternative to fossil fuels. Experts, however, stress that its environmental benefits depend largely on how the hydrogen itself is produced. "The introduction of a hydrogen-powered train is significant for India's energy transition as it represents a move toward cleaner, low-emission transport. It supports India's climate goals by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and lowering greenhouse-gas emissions, especially in sectors like railways that consume large amounts of energy," Arora said. Mainak Mukherjee, product analyst at global technology firm SLB, said the biggest challenge lies in producing green hydrogen. "The sustainability of hydrogen as a clean-energy source depends not only on the fuel itself, but also on how it is produced, the infrastructure that supports its use and the sectors in which it is applied. To fully realise its decarbonisation potential, greater emphasis should be placed on green hydrogen, which is produced through water electrolysis using renewable electricity," he said. Mohanty echoed the view. "Hydrogen deployment should prioritise green-hydrogen production, minimise leakage across the supply chain, improve fuel-cell efficiency and focus on applications where direct electrification is not feasible." Why experts see only a niche role in India Countries such as Germany, France, Japan, China and the United States have already introduced or tested hydrogen-powered trains, primarily on regional routes where railway electrification is limited. Experts believe India is likely to follow a similar path. "The experiences of Germany and France demonstrated that hydrogen-powered trains can complement diesel trains to a certain extent, on non-electrified regional rail lines, where electrification is technically difficult or economically expensive. Successful deployment would depend on factors such as route suitability, shared re-fuelling infrastructure and the use of green hydrogen to maximise emissions reduction," Mukherjee said. Mohanty said India's extensive railway electrification reduces the need for hydrogen-powered trains on most routes. "Given that more than 95 per cent of India's broad-gauge railway network is already electrified, hydrogen trains are likely to have a niche role rather than becoming the mainstream solution." "Their long-term contribution to climate goals will depend on the availability of affordable green hydrogen and whether they prove economically competitive for specific routes," she added. Arora noted that railways remain an ideal testing ground for hydrogen technology because of their predictable routes and operating schedules. "In addition, they (trains) require high power over long distances, which hydrogen can efficiently provide." He added, "Hydrogen fuel cells typically have an efficiency of around 50-60 per cent in converting hydrogen into electricity. The efficiency of producing hydrogen through electrolysis is generally about 60-70 per cent, depending on the technology and conditions used."

• Clean Air & Sustainable Mobility

‘Hydrogen-run trains likely to play niche role in India’

India’s first hydrogen-powered electric train marks a shift from depending on fossil fuels for an energy-intensive railways sector and aims to lower greenhouse-gas emissions, but is likely to play a niche role, given that most of the country’s broad-gauge network is already electrified, according to experts. Hydrogen’s long-term contribution to India’s energy transition and climate goals will depend on whether affordable green hydrogen – which is produced using renewable electricity – is available and if it proves to be economically competitive for a specific route, the experts say. Chemistry India is set to get its first hydrogen-powered train on Friday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the passenger service from Jind to Sonipat in Haryana. The 89-kilometre distance between the two cities will be covered in two hours, with the train halting at 12 intermediate stations. A 1,200-kilowatt hydrogen-fuel-cell-propulsion system will power the 10-car trainset, which will operate at a maximum speed of 75 kilometres per hour, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement on Thursday. “This milestone marks the latest chapter in the evolution of how Indian Railways has powered its trains, reflecting India’s broader journey from coal and steam to cleaner, more sustainable sources of energy,” it said. “In simple terms, a hydrogen-fuel-cell-propulsion system works by combining hydrogen with oxygen from the air inside a fuel cell to produce electricity. This electricity powers the train’s motors,” Harpreet Singh Arora, professor at Shiv Nadar University’s school of engineering, told PTI. Chemistry “A hydrogen fuel cell train is essentially an electric train that generates its own electricity on board. Instead of drawing power from overhead lines, hydrogen stored in high-pressure tanks reacts with oxygen from the air inside a fuel cell to produce electricity,” explained Moushumi Mohanty, senior programme manager, electric mobility programme, at New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment. The only direct emission from the fuel cell is water vapour, she added. Hydrogen is considered a “clean fuel” since its burning produces no harmful pollutants, such as carbon dioxide, particulate matter, sulphur oxides or nitrogen oxides, typically released when fossil fuels are burned. The water vapour released from burning hydrogen remains in the atmosphere for a short period, eventually forming a part of the natural water cycle. Hydrogen fuel for the train is “produced separately, compressed, transported to the refuelling station and filled into storage tanks on the train”, Mohanty told PTI.