“Fostering a global hydrogen society” Hyundai Motors invests 1 trillion won in Tamil Nadu, India. ‘Hydrogen Resource Center’ establish

[M Today Reporter Choi Tae-in] Hyundai Motor Company will invest approximately 1 trillion won in India to establish a base for building a hydrogen ecosystem.

Hyundai Motor Company and the Tamil Nadu state government discussed ‘eco-friendly transformation and acceleration of future new businesses at ‘TNGIM 2024 (TAMIL NADU GLOBAL INVESTORS MEET 2024)’ held in Nandambakkam, Chennai, India on the 7th (local time). A business agreement (MOU) was signed.

According to this MOU, Hyundai Motor Company decided to invest 61.8 billion rupees (approximately 980 billion won) in Tamil Nadu to establish a Hydrogen Resource Center (HRC).

In line with the brand hydrogen vision, we are determined to lower the entry barrier to hydrogen energy and develop India into a global hydrogen society. Following the Tamil Nadu state government, we plan to enter into a partnership with ITT Madras, India’s most prestigious engineering university and a world-renowned university.

Kim Un-soo, head of Hyundai Motor India, emphasized, “HRC will serve as an incubation cell to lay the foundation for India’s hydrogen ecosystem.”

Previously, Hyundai Motor Company signed an MOU with the Tamil Nadu government in May last year for investment in building an electric vehicle ecosystem and decided to invest up to 200 billion rupees (approximately 3.2 trillion won) over the next 7 to 10 years. At the time, a plan was put forward to lay the foundation for the development of not only electric vehicles but also hydrogen mobility-related technologies.

In addition to this investment, Hyundai Motor Company is also preparing to launch new models to solidify its position in the local eco-friendly market. First of all, the plan is to add the overseas strategic sports utility vehicle (SUV) model Creta-based electric vehicle ‘Creta EV’ in 2025.

Creta EV is a local strategic model to compete against Nexon EV, a popular electric vehicle model of local brand Tata Motors. Hyundai Motor Company aims to sell 20,000 to 25,000 units per year. In addition, pilot research is being conducted to launch the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCEV) Nexo.

Hyundai Motor Company is paying attention to the speed of development of the Indian automobile market. India sold 4.25 million units in the domestic market in 2022, surpassing Japan to become the world’s third largest automobile market. This is driven by a population of over 1.4 billion people driving car sales.

As of last year, the electric vehicle penetration rate was low at around 2%, but it is expected to grow rapidly as the Indian government is strengthening its will to transition to electric mobility.