State-owned power giant NTPC on Thursday said it has handed over five hydrogen fuel cell buses to SIDCO (Sindhu Infrastructure Development Corporation), a Ladakh administration undertaking, for commercial operations in the Union Territory.

The vehicles were delivered on Wednesday. This initiative marks India’s first commercial deployment of hydrogen fuel buses and sets a global benchmark for green mobility by operating hydrogen buses at the highest altitude in the world, a company statement said.

In November last year, NTPC had launched world’s first hydrogen fuelling station and first-of-its kind green hydrogen mobility station in Leh.

The fuel station at 11,562 feet above the sea level is co-located with a solar plant of 1.7 MW for providing renewable power for its entire operational requirements.

The hydrogen mobility project is expected to mitigate carbon emissions of around 350 MT/year and contribute 230 MT/year of pure oxygen to the atmosphere, equivalent to 13,000 tree plantations.

NTPC is India’s largest integrated power utility, contributing one-fourth of India’s power requirements and has an installed capacity of over 81 GW, with an additional capacity of 29.5 GW under construction, including 9.6 GW of renewable energy capacity.