Kishore K. Bhimwal is additional director at the Centre for High Technology (CHT), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG). He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, and has over 21 years of experience at Engineers India Limited. He previously worked with Technip KT India Limited and Projects & Development India Limited. In his current role, he is engaged in the government’s flagship Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT)-2B programme for green hydrogen procurement by oil marketing companies.
“The SIGHT programme is fundamental to promoting clean energy. SIGHT-2B specifically aims to increase green hydrogen production by providing significant financial incentives to manufacturers. The scheme works by aggregating demand and then holding competitive auctions for the production and supply of green hydrogen at the lowest cost for refineries, whether single or multiple. The first tranche, Mode 2B, offers a substantial bidding capacity of 200,000 metric tonnes per annum. CHT’s role is to ensure the smooth and effective implementation of this scheme,” he says.
He states that it is crucial to maximise India’s renewable electricity generation and utilise options such as blue hydrogen and compressed biogas in the short to medium term. While green hydrogen and nuclear energy represent long-term fuel solutions, he stresses the greater importance of blue hydrogen in enabling the ongoing energy transition. The high levellised cost of green hydrogen, with renewable energy accounting for 60-65 per cent of this cost, remains the primary obstacle to wider adoption. He also notes that international regulations such as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism are likely to disrupt the Indian industry. “To mitigate these challenges, the government is actively focusing on synthetic fuels (e-fuels), which are crucial for hard-to-decarbonise sectors such as marine and aviation, where direct electrification is impractical. Integrated projects combining green hydrogen production and carbon capture utilisation could significantly reduce the cost of these synthetic fuels,” he says.
Bhimwal believes in empowering his team through clear guidance and open communication. “I focus on setting clear goals, providing the necessary resources and trusting my team to deliver,” he says. Looking to the future, he aims to refine his stakeholder engagement skills and develop a more nuanced understanding of the challenges confronting the green hydrogen sector. “In my leisure time, I enjoy playing chess and reading spiritual books. I am also a regular practitioner of heartfulness meditation,” he adds.
