Specials
New Delhi [India], October 17: Green hydrogen could reshape where some of the world’s industrial production takes place and allow India to export the value of its abundant renewable resources, according to Krishan Rattan, founding partner of global investment firm Terra Invest.
“India’s sunshine could become part of an industrial product bought on the other side of the world,” Rattan writes in a commentary published on the firm’s website. The idea rests on a simple chain: renewable electricity is converted into hydrogen, and hydrogen into products that can travel, such as ammonia or iron made using hydrogen as a reducing agent.
Rather than shipping energy itself, Rattan sees promise in exporting the industrial products made with it. “I expect some of the most interesting trade to emerge where a product arrives ready to perform its industrial function,” he writes.
Rattan highlights the National Green Hydrogen Mission’s initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore, including Rs 17,490 crore for the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme, which supports both electrolyser manufacturing and hydrogen production. Pairing a new industrial input with the capability to build the equipment behind it, he writes, “is how lasting industries begin”.
Citing the International Energy Agency’s Global Hydrogen Review 2025, which describes demand as concentrated in established industrial uses such as refining and chemicals, the commentary identifies these sectors as the practical starting point: serve customers who already need the product, and build expertise from there.
Rattan also sees the Gulf as a natural partner, with the renewable resources, ports, industrial customers and capital to support projects on both sides. At home, he suggests India develop industrial clusters where equipment suppliers and engineering teams can carry lessons from one project to the next.
“Exporting sunshine would then mean exporting Indian capability along with it,” he concludes.
About Terra Invest
Terra Invest (Terra Vision Investments LLC) is a global investment firm where capital works alongside public policy, academia and governance, investing across AI, financial services, healthcare, green energy and infrastructure in India and the Middle East. The firm has offices in London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Miami and Singapore. The full commentaries are available at terra-invest.com/insights.
