From electrolyser factories to ammonia shipments, India’s green hydrogen sector is moving beyond policy into concrete businessWhen the government approved India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission in January 2023 with a budget of ₹19,744 crore, the announcement felt distant to most industries. Today, more than 50 companies are scrambling to secure their slice of an opportunity that spans electrolyser manufacturing, hydrogen production, fertiliser supply chains, and international exports. The competitive pressure is real. The prize is significant. By 2030, India aims to produce at least 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually, establishing itself as a global exporter of clean fuel and its derivatives.The window for entry is open, but it is narrowing fast. Companies across sectors—from energy majors to specialised startups—are positioning themselves in a market that barely existed two years ago. What separates the serious players from the hopefuls is whether they can move beyond government awards and signed contracts into actual construction and delivery.The government’s manufacturing pushThe Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme has become the primary vehicle for building India’s domestic electrolyser capacity. The government allocated 3,000 MW of annual manufacturing capacity in two separate tranches, establishing a clear competitive mechanism and forcing companies to bid against each other rather than simply applying for support.In the first tranche, fifteen projects were approved. Reliance Industries and Reliance Electrolyser Manufacturing claimed 300 MW, matching the same allocation awarded to L&T Electrolysers and to John Cockerill Greenko Hydrogen Solutions. Adani New Industries secured 198.5 MW, while smaller players like Ohmium Operations (137 MW), Matrix Gas and Renewables (63 MW), and homiHydrogen (101.5 MW) filled out the roster. Advait Infratech received 100 MW. These awards span three different technology pathways: alkaline electrolysis, proton-exchange membrane systems, and solid-oxide electrolysis, ensuring India is not locked into a single approach.A second tranche doubled down, awarding another 1,500 MW across eleven companies. Adani New Industries, Advait Infratech, and Matrix Gas and Renewables returned as winners. New entrants included Waaree Clean Energy Solutions, Eastern Electrolyser, Newtrace, and others. Ohmium, GH2 Solar, and Avaada Electrolyser each secured capacity. By 2026-27, when these projects are scheduled to come online, India will have built a manufacturing ecosystem where electrolyser production happens domestically rather than relying entirely on imports.The government backed this push with ₹4,440 crore in manufacturing incentives. That money buys more than equipment; it buys political certainty that the government treats this sector as strategic.The ammonia revolution through SECIFertiliser supply created the first hard proof that Indian green hydrogen could move beyond laboratories and announcements. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) conducted competitive bidding for green ammonia deliveries to 13 fertiliser plants across India. The contract volume is substantial: 7.24 lakh tonnes annually over 10 years. That is demand that exists. Fertiliser makers know they need the product. SECI has locked in buyers and created what developers needed most—certainty.This mechanism did something simple but profound. It told investors that India’s government was willing to use its purchasing power to make green hydrogen commercially viable. The fertiliser plants cannot avoid the transition. The contracts will push them toward cleaner production, and developers now have visibility into revenue for a full decade.Export partnerships reshaping the business caseWhere government awards create capacity, international buyers are creating markets. AM Green, a Hyderabad-based developer, has become the face of India’s green hydrogen export ambitions. The company won a German government-backed H2Global auction to supply renewable ammonia worth at least €585 million over 10 years, with first deliveries expected in 2029. It also signed a separate deal with Uniper, Germany’s energy giant, for up to 500,000 tonnes annually of renewable ammonia starting as early as 2028.ACME Group is chasing a different geography. The company secured long-term offtake agreements with Japan’s IHI Corporation for 405,000 tonnes annually of green ammonia and with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical for approximately 100,000 tonnes per year of green methanol. L&T Energy GreenTech signed a take-or-pay agreement with Japan’s ITOCHU Corporation for 300,000 tonnes annually of green ammonia from a planned facility at Kandla in Gujarat. These contracts matter because they are take-or-pay arrangements. The buyers have committed. If L&T ships the ammonia, ITOCHU pays. If ITOCHU refuses delivery, they still pay.These deals are not vague letters of intent. They are binding agreements that overseas banks and lenders trust enough to finance. A project with a long-term offtake contract from a Japanese corporation carries risk that European investors understand. It moves from speculation to bankable.The refinery and hydrogen production pipelineOn the production side, SIGHT awarded capacity across two tranches totalling 7.5 to 8.5 lakh tonnes annually. The first tranche, covering approximately 3.06 lakh tonnes, went to companies like Reliance Green Hydrogen and Green Chemicals (90,000 tonnes per annum), ACME Cleantech (90,000 TPA), and Greenko ZeroC (90,000 TPA). Smaller allocations went to CESC Projects (10,500 TPA), UPL (10,000 TPA), HHP Two (10,000 TPA), JSW Neo Energy (3,600 TPA), and Bharat Petroleum (2,000 TPA).The second tranche, with 4.5 lakh TPA, rewarded AM Green, L&T Energy GreenTech, Green Infra Renewable Energy Farms, and Waaree Clean Energy Solutions with 90,000 TPA each. Reliance received an additional 49,000 TPA, while Suryadeep KA1, GH2 Solar, Oriana Power, and Matrix Gas and Renewables also secured awards.Separately, the government has awarded refinery-linked green hydrogen projects to Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, and Numaligarh Refinery. These projects are not separate from the oil sector; they are integral to it. Refineries consume hydrogen today. Replacing that with green hydrogen changes their emissions profile without requiring new supply chains or customer relationships.Pilot initiatives are underway in steel production, hydrogen-powered mobility, and port infrastructure including green-methanol bunkering. These pilots are small in scale but enormous in strategic value. They prove the concept works. Steel makers and shipping companies will need to decarbonise. If hydrogen solutions exist at scale and cost, adoption accelerates.The execution challenge aheadCapacity allocations are not products. Awards from the government are not revenues. According to Fortune India, the next phase tests whether India can convert these allocations into commissioned plants and actual deliveries. Three factors will determine success: the pace at which companies can move from approval to construction, the cost and availability of renewable power needed to make electrolysis economical, and the ability to meet international certification standards that overseas buyers demand.A project that wins a government contract but takes five years to build loses momentum. Financing dries up. Supply chains scatter. Costs inflate. The companies that succeed will be those with project development expertise, financial discipline, and the ability to manage long construction timelines while competing on cost.Renewable power availability is the hidden constraint. Electrolyser plants need cheap, abundant electricity to be competitive with imported hydrogen or hydrogen made from fossil fuels. India has substantial solar and wind capacity, but electrolyser projects will compete with data centres, semiconductor fabs, and other industries for the best sites and power agreements. Companies that can secure long-term renewable power contracts at scale will have an insurmountable advantage.International certification adds another layer of complexity. European and Japanese buyers do not simply accept Indian green hydrogen; they verify its carbon footprint through internationally recognised standards. Developers need to prove that their hydrogen was made using renewable power, not grid electricity, and that every electron can be traced. This demands infrastructure that most Indian developers are still building.The broader market taking shapeWhat Fortune India’s reporting reveals is not a single market but an ecosystem. Reliance, Adani, and L&T are household names with capital and execution capability. But smaller companies like AM Green, ACME, Greenko, and Waaree are winning allocations on equal terms. The government’s competitive bidding process forced the sector to compete on merit rather than size or political connections.The presence of international corporations in joint ventures—John Cockerill and Ohmium among electrolyser makers—shows that India is not trying to build this alone. It is importing expertise and technology while building domestic manufacturing. That is the correct approach. India does not need to invent electrolysers; it needs to make them cheaply at scale.The fertiliser supply agreements created by SECI are already reshaping fertiliser industry economics. Producers who secure allocations will gain a cost advantage once green hydrogen is cheaper than grey hydrogen. Those who do not will face higher production costs and margin pressure.Export contracts are proving that Indian green hydrogen can compete on price and reliability in global markets. If AM Green and ACME can deliver ammonia to Germany and Japan at the prices they have committed to, India is no longer a domestic story. It becomes part of global energy security.Where execution meets ambitionIndia’s green hydrogen sector has moved from announcements to purchase orders and construction schedules. That is progress. The government has set the framework. Companies have won capacity. International buyers have signed contracts. What remains is the hardest part: building the plants, producing the hydrogen, and delivering it on time and on budget.The 50-plus companies chasing this opportunity will not all succeed. Some will struggle to access capital. Others will face construction delays. A few will discover their cost assumptions were wrong. But the ones that execute will transform India’s energy profile and build an export industry worth billions of dollars. The race is on, and the next two to three years will separate the winners from the also-rans.For India’s green hydrogen ambitions to become real, projects must move from paper to steel. The government has done its part. The buyers are waiting. The question now is whether developers can deliver.
