Tata Motors will start operating trucks powered by hydrogen internal combustion engines on a pilot basis in the March quarter, according to a senior company official. Under the pilot project, part of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the company along with IOCL will run the trucks on three routes for 18 months.

At the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025, Tata Motors, last week, unveiled the truck powered by a hydrogen internal combustion engine.

Tata Motors Executive Director Girish Wagh said the company is getting ready for both technologies - hydrogen internal combustion engine and fuel cell electric vehicles.

The trucks with hydrogen internal combustion engines will start operating this quarter, he said. It will be operated on three routes - Mumbai-Pune, Jamshedpur-Kalinganagar and Mumbai-Ahmedabad.

The pilot project will generate a lot of data which will be used to improve the product as well as the infrastructure for fuelling hydrogen, Wagh told PTI.

He spoke on Friday on the sidelines of the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 in the national capital. "We already have 15 electric fuel cell buses running for more than 10 months with IOCL," he said and added that there is a lot of work happening across the value chain with respect to using hydrogen as a fuel.

Wagh also said the company is getting ready for commercial launch within 12 to 24 months for hydrogen fuel vehicles and is looking forward to some support.

Tata Motors commercial vehicles are repositioning itself for a better value proposition.

"Bold transformation is happening on the basis of sustainability, safety, and digital and Artificial Intelligence," he said.

Wagh said the commercial vehicles market has been more of a roller coaster this fiscal. "We are seeing green shoots in all the end use segments... looking forward to the fourth quarter being a good quarter," he added.

On expectations from the upcoming Union Budget, Wagh said the government has been very supportive of electrification and sustainability transition. "Not just the Budget but through the year, there has been a lot of interventions whether it is FAME incentives, PLIs... There is a lot of work happening," he said.