Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday launched an indigenously developed hydrogen fuel cell bus developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and private firm KPIT Limited in Pune.

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The Union Minister of State for Science and Technology on the occasion said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Hydrogen Vision' aims to make the country "atmanirbhar" (self-reliant) in clean energy, meeting climate change goals and creating employment in the sector.

The fuel cell utilizes hydrogen and air to generate electricity to power the bus, whose only effluent is water, thereby making it possibly the most environment-friendly mode of transportation, a release quoted Singh as saying.

For comparison, a single diesel bus plying on long distance routes typically emits 100 tons of CO2 annually and there are over a million such buses in India, the release added.

The operational cost of hydrogen fuel cell trucks is lower than ones run on diesel and this could bring about a freight revolution in the country, he said.

"About 12-14 per cent of CO2 emissions come diesel powered heavy vehicles. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles provide excellent means to eliminate on-road emissions in this sector," he said.