The EU and India are setting up joint research cooperation on waste-to-hydrogen as part of a collaborative push behind clean technologies.
The estimated budget, which will also target electric battery recycling and marine plastic litter, will be about €60m from the Horizon Europe programme and matching Indian contributions.
Source: European Commission
With waste-to-hydrogen, the focus will be on developing technologies with greater efficiency to produce hydrogen from biogenic wastes.
Both parties will also explore how to enhance collaboration with hydrogen-related safety standards.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe and India are both looking to diversify critical value chains.
“From our side this is for example the case on batteries or pharma, semiconductors, clean hydrogen or defence,” she said, adding that the EU is India’s largest trading partner, ahead of the US and China.
“But we could do so much more by improving market access and tackling the barriers to trade. And I believe this can be a launchpad to strengthen cooperation in key sectors which will drive the global economy.”
The ambitious India–Middle East–Europe corridor, launched in New Delhi in 2023 during India’s G20 Presidency, can be a “modern golden road”, directly connecting India, the Arabian Gulf and Europe, featuring a rail link, electricity cable and clean hydrogen pipeline, said von der Leyen.
“This corridor is much more than ‘just’ a railway or a cable. It is a green and digital bridge across continents and civilisations,” she said. “And it can help bring us closer together and boost trade on everything from batteries to clean hydrogen and digital services.”
The Indian government is targeting 5 million metric tonnes per annum of green hydrogen by 2030, supported by an associated renewable energy capacity of around 125 gigawatts.
Speaking at the recent India Energy Week 2025, Shri Hardeep Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said the hydrogen target was “very conservative”.
Read more: Green hydrogen becoming ‘mainstream narrative’ in India
In January, India-based renewables business NTPC Green Energy announced it would develop a $22.3bn green hydrogen hub in Andhra Pradesh on the east coast of southern India, capable of producing 1,500 tonnes of green hydrogen and 7,500 tonnes of derivatives daily.
Read more: NTPC to develop 1,500 TPD green hydrogen hub in India
