Chennai: India is likely to miss its target of becoming the global hub for green hydrogen production as almost 85 per cent of projects announced under the mission since 2022 are yet to be commissioned.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) launched on January 4, 2022, underscores India’s strategic vision to become a global hub for Green Hydrogen production. This initiative is designed to foster production, exports, create employment, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The NGHM envisions the use of Green Hydrogen across key sectors—refineries, fertilisers, city gas, steel, heavy duty transport, and shipping—by 2030. These industries contribute over 25 per cent of the country’s total GHG emissions.
The Mission targets an annual production capacity of 5 million tonnes of Green Hydrogen, aiming to scale up to 10 million tonnes by 2030.
Since the NGHM’s launch in January 2022, several states have initiated Green Hydrogen policies or taken initiatives towards its production. Around 10 states, which contribute to 80 per cent of the GHG emissions, were expected to take initiatives towards usage of clean energy, according to ICRA.
Projects with more than 12 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of Green Hydrogen production capacity have been announced, which are enough to meet the NGHM’s targeted production capacity.
However, out of the 164 projects for Green Hydrogen production and electrolyser manufacturing, more than 140 projects or 85 per cent of the projects are yet to be commissioned.
In FY22, the Centre had initially allocated Rs 19,700 crore for the mission. The budgetary allocation for NGHM in FY2026 Budget Estimates (BE) is twice as high as that in FY2025 Revised Estimate (RE). However, only 5 per cent of the initial budget of Rs 19,700 crore is estimated to be utilised by FY2026.
