India’s clean energy future gains new momentum at SRM University-AP where the two-day Green Hydrogen Summit drew an august gathering of policymakers, industry leaders and researchers. This historic event reaffirmed the state’s commitment to sustainable energy development under the leadership of the Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri Nara Chandrababu Naidu.
The second day of the summit featured a series of plenary sessions, industry-academia conclave, and strategic discussions with industry leaders, scientists, academicians, and policymakers who engaged in dialogues on technology innovations, infrastructural acumen, off-taker options, and funding and policy to promote India’s Green Hydrogen journey.
Some of the key highlights of today’s programme include its cost-effective nature, its application across industries, and the sustainability factor. The panel discussion also explored the scope of Fuel Cells. Dr R Vijay, Director-ARCI, explained the potential benefits of using metallic bipolar plates and the need to set up electrolyser plants to enable large-scale hydrogen production.
Mr Ramesh Guduru, Associate Professor, PDEU, and Mr Harish Jayaram, Hygenco Green Energies, showcased the current status of hydrogen applications. They emphasised the challenges the industries face and stressed the need for selecting appropriate use cases, longer project tenures for cost efficiency, and the critical role of storage and sea-port accessibility.
The two-day Summit highlighted some critical issues of Hydrogen production. While scientists and academicians spoke of the pros, industry leaders brought out the cons of the entire process. Mr Karthikeya A, from APEDB addressed the part wherein he noted the need for off-takers, while the nation produces all of this considering the sustainability factor, he suggested that we never bothered to really understand whether there really is an off-taker to consume the hydrogen.
However, it was unilaterally agreed that Hydrogen is indeed a safer and cleaner alternative to fossil fuels, considering India’s large economy and sustainability factors.
Furthermore, discussions were made on developing a collaborative ecosystem. Dr Mallikarjun Bhavanari underscored the need for synergy between academia and industry. He cited infrastructure, material accessibility and Research and Development as crucial factors in establishing India as a hydrogen superpower.
Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ch Satish Kumar in the valedictory session remarked, “let’s not just celebrate green hydrogen progress, let’s also talk about the difficulties in production, the health implications, and community level engagement, he stated – it is surprising and sometimes even painful to note that while we celebrate innovation, we fail to ask the community what is really needs.”
Prof. D Narayana Rao, Executive Director-Research, SRM Group of Institutions said, “As the nation strives to become a leader in clean energy, the Green Hydrogen Summit 2025 provided an excellent platform for industry-academia collaborations.” He further added that, as per the directive from the Honourable Chief Minister, SRM AP in collaboration with NREDCAP will hold the Hydrogen Summit every year and review the progress made in the state of Andhra Pradesh in the journey of Green Hydrogen.
