Lieutenant Governor, R K Mathur discussed renewable energy potentials and roadmap for carbon-neutral Ladakh with Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy, GOI, Raj Kumar Singh on January 19.

The meeting was held via video conferencing. Advisor Umang Narula and Additional Secretary Ravinder Kumar were also present.
 
During the meeting, a detailed discussion was made on the objectives, plan of action, bottlenecks, and solutions to make Ladakh the renewable energy hub of India. Issues concerning the Ladakh power scenario, energy demand, and possibilities of replacing diesel with green hydrogen energy for electricity, heating, and transportation purposes were deliberated at length. 
 
MNRE, SECI, ONGC, NTPC, and PGCIL officials apprised the Minister of the proposed pilot projects, other projects in pipelines, the present status of progress, and current renewable energy initiatives to make Ladakh carbon neutral. The projects included harnessing the maximum potential of solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal energy combination to provide a 24x7 electricity supply with an increased storage facility. 
 
L-G Mathur expressed thanks to the Power Minister for his intervention to facilitate the timely implementation of these projects in Ladakh towards achieving the goal of making Ladakh carbon neutral. He informed the Minister that green hydrogen would be the best alternative to make Ladakh carbon-neutral considering its production feasibility, climatic, geographic, and road conditions of the region. He said that the success of the 200 KW Green Hydrogen CHP pilot project at the SNM Hospital, Leh would be a big achievement meeting the need for electricity, heating, and oxygen and the model can be scaled up for the use of the army and tourists. 
 
He informed the Minister that a committee will soon be constituted to find out a long term solution for land issues for all renewable energy projects. He also requested to consider the possibility of heavy vehicles and load carriers in Ladakh to run on hydrogen fuel and electric buses for public transport.
 
The Minister exhorted the executing agencies participating in the meeting to submit the comprehensive project with required data, conduct surveys, study feasibility, financial requirements, set time frames, and gave a go-ahead to start implementing the projects on the ground at the earliest. He said that these projects will not only take Ladakh towards carbon neutrality but would also provide a sustainable source of income and employment generation.