Reliance, Ashok Leyland in talks for development of hydrogen-powered engines: Report

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Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is in advanced talks with Hinduja-owned truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland for the development and supply chain of hydrogen-powered engines, The Economic Times reported quoting two people with the knowledge of the development.

Ashok Leyland will install fuel-cell engines in an existing fleet of 45,000 trucks that RIL has hired to transport refined products and other marketing goods as a first stage in the strategy, the sources said. This will allow the trucks to run on green hydrogen rather than diesel.

Beginning in 2025, Reliance intends to manufacture green hydrogen at its refinery facility in Jamnagar. With the advancement of technology, there are plans to increase the supply of hydrogen to the greater automobile market, especially for buses and taxis, the report said.

"RIL has reached out to Ashok Leyland for the development of these engines. The plan is to use these engines for the fleet of trucks RIL uses and, of course, going expand this to the larger automotive market," ET quoted one of the people. "Currently the plan envisages retrofitting the engines of these Ashok Leyland fleet of trucks before moving on to the fleet of other service providers. These retro-fittings would take place across Ashok Leyland's truck workshops in the country."

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the business plans are still in the private domain. The report quoted one of the sources as saying that this may include expanding the scope of cooperation with Ashok Leyland or forming similar partnerships with other automakers.

It is unclear at this time whether RIL would eventually partner with cab aggregators like Ola or Uber.

According to the sources, RIL and Ashok Leyland are finalising the partnership's structure, prospective equity commitment, and capital expenditures.

The two companies did not react to questions sent by ET.

Green hydrogen is the cleanest form of fuel when produced through renewable sources of energy. This August, at RIL's AGM, Chairman Mukesh Ambani had unveiled his plan to shift to green hydrogen with an aim to start the transition by 2025.

Ambani said that while the company is one of the largest producers of grey hydrogen globally, it is assessing new technologies for making electrolysers in its efforts to produce low-cost green hydrogen in the country.

Ashok Leyland and RIL have an existing collaboration where Ashok Leyland provides driver training for RIL's supply chain division. In Gujarat, RIL operates three driving schools and in terms of truck supplies, while Ashok Leyland is RIL's main supplier.

According to sources in the report, RIL intends to establish itself as a market leader in the transportation sector as India prioritises green hydrogen as a potential option to decarbonise industries and transportation.

Additionally, the business is interested in creating an ecosystem for the fuel and reaching a critical mass because it will be a major producer of green hydrogen in the future.

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