The Uttar Pradesh government has granted in-principle approval of Rs 1 billion to establish two Centres of Excellence (CoE) under the Uttar Pradesh Green Hydrogen Policy 2024. Each CoE will receive Rs 500 million in funding and will be set up through institutional collaboration. One centre will be developed through a partnership between IIT Kanpur and Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur, while the second will be established jointly by IIT (BHU), Varanasi and Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur.
Furthermore, the CoEs will undertake work across hydrogen production technologies, including biomass-based methods and electrolyser-driven systems. The scope also covers the development of scalable hydrogen storage solutions and transportation infrastructure. Pilot projects are planned in hydrogen mobility, including hydrogen-powered buses in coordination with Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation and hydrogen-based train corridors on the Gorakhpur–Varanasi and Kanpur–Lucknow routes.
Additionally, the programme places emphasis on industrial deployment of hydrogen solutions across refineries, fertiliser units, city gas distribution networks, and manufacturing clusters. The state’s logistics sector is also expected to be a key area of application, supported by Uttar Pradesh accounting for nearly 40 per cent of India’s expressway network. Each CoE is expected to incubate at least 10 start-ups annually, creating a potential pipeline of more than 50 green hydrogen technology ventures over the next five years.
