New Delhi, July 4 -- Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), the country's largest oil-marketing company with over 37,500 petrol stations, is working on a new business plan to set up green hydrogen fuel dispensing pumps across the nation, chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney said in an interview. Sahney said that apart from captive consumption at its refineries, where IOC would look at replacing grey hydrogen with green hydrogen, the firm aims to eventually cater to the mobility demand in the nation, thereby retailing green hydrogen fuel cells. He believes that due to critical safety requirements for hydrogen, separate and enhanced safety norms would be necessary for green hydrogen stations. This would require oil marketing companies (OMCs) to establish dedicated infrastructure for retail sales of the fuel. The playbook is part of IOC's $30 billion investment plan to achieve net zero by 2046, and involves the refiner to meet its captive demand, followed by catering to mobility requirements and exports. The plan being worked upon by the refiner's strategy group involves setting up these carbon emission-free fuel dispensing stations at new locations, and not at its current network points. Green hydrogen is used as a clean fuel for vehicles, especially in fuel cell EVs, as a zero-emission alternative to fossil fuels. Without divulging further detail of its retail plans for green hydrogen, Sahney said: "Everything is on our strategy table." The plan involves selling green hydrogen from IOC's 10,000 tonne per annum green hydrogen generation unit at Panipat refinery to be commissioned by December next year. Referring to the planned green hydrogen plant at its Panipat refinery, Sahney said: "First of all, I am putting up this plant at Panipat, I want to take it to its logical conclusion, that is increased use in mobility. Till the time mobility is there, I can use that in my refineries also. I can replace the grey hydrogen with the green one. Otherwise my ultimate aim will be to use it more and more towards mobility." He noted that it would be the largest green hydrogen facility in the country. Recently, Indian Oil discovered the levelized cost of green hydrogen at $4.66 per kg for the proposed green hydrogen plant. This is a key breakthrough as the government has been eyeing green hydrogen prices to come below $5 per kg, with an eventual target of bringing it to $1 per kg....