MUMBAI - India will roll out its first domestically designed and built hydrogen-powered train by December 2023, the country’s railway minister said, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Monday.

“We are designing and the design should be out by anywhere by May or June,” Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s minister for railways told reporters during a visit to the southern city of Bengaluru.

Called the Vande Metro, the train would be manufactured in large numbers and the ultimate aim would be to replace trains built in the 1950s and 60s, Mr Vaishnaw was quoted as saying.

Most trains in India run on diesel or electricity.

Governments and energy companies around the world are betting on clean hydrogen playing a leading role in efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions, though its future uses and costs remain uncertain. REUTERS