SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) | Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) and Germany’s DVGW (German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water) exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on January 12, 2026. Exchanged in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Gandhinagar, the agreement establishes a framework to integrate hydrogen into India’s natural gas infrastructure. The partnership focuses on standardizing hydrogen blending with natural gas and the progressive repurposing of existing gas systems to ensure future readiness.
A core component of this collaboration is the development of a Hydrogen Readiness Testing Scheme (HRTS), which will involve materials testing, component loop tests, and field pilots to ensure infrastructure safety. This collaboration aligns with the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), which mandates PNGRB to facilitate regulatory frameworks for hydrogen use in Refineries and City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks. To provide further regulatory clarity, PNGRB has suggested amendments to the PNGRB Act, 2006, to explicitly include hydrogen transportation through pipelines. The non-binding MoU aims to support evidence-based regulation, starting with blends of approximately 20% hydrogen and creating a roadmap toward 100% hydrogen applications.
What is the ‘Hydrogen Readiness Testing Scheme’ (HRTS)? It is a technical framework designed to evaluate the compatibility of existing natural gas infrastructure with hydrogen. Since hydrogen can cause embrittlement in certain materials and behaves differently than natural gas, an HRTS involves rigorous testing of materials, components, and field pilots. This scheme ensures that pipelines and meters can safely handle hydrogen-natural gas blends or pure hydrogen without leaks or structural failure, ultimately leading to a certification database of “hydrogen-ready” components.
Policy Relevance
The MoU leverages German technical expertise to accelerate India’s transition toward a hydrogen-based economy, ensuring that infrastructure investments remain viable in a decarbonizing energy landscape.
Strategic Impact for India:
Standardization and Adaptation: Access to DVGW technical rules allows India to adopt and adapt internationally recognized standards for local operating conditions, speeding up regulatory development.
Infrastructure Retrofitting: By focusing on retrofitment and repurposing, the policy minimizes stranded asset risks for India’s extensive existing natural gas pipeline network.
Safety and Monitoring: The exchange of best practices in odorization and leak detection is critical for the safe deployment of hydrogen in high-pressure urban gas networks.
Regulatory Clarity: The proposed legislative amendments for hydrogen-natural gas blends will provide the legal certainty required to attract large-scale private investment in green energy transport.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How will the proposed amendments to the PNGRB Act redefine the liability and safety compliance standards for multi-product pipelines carrying hydrogen blends?
Follow the full news here: PNGRB and Germany’s DVGW Partner to Advance Hydrogen-Ready Gas Infrastructure