By Surabhi Gupta
New Delhi: India’s push to emerge as a global green hydrogen powerhouse is entering a crucial phase. Although the initial vision for the production of 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen every year in 2030 has itself been reset, government officials are quick to assert that the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) remains right on course, although with a more realistic timeline.
Recently, top officials in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) have accepted that the present target that India is considering is 3 MMT of green hydrogen by 2030, and it is likely that the target of 5 MMT will be achieved by 2032. While this is a marginal changeover, it is said that the correction is in line with realities rather than being indicative of a loss of momentum.
Launched in January 2023, the National Green Hydrogen Mission is designed as an umbrella programme to create a complete green hydrogen ecosystem, spanning production, storage, transport, usage and exports, and position India as a global hub for clean hydrogen.
Why Green Hydrogen Matters For India
Green hydrogen is hydrogen produced using renewable electricity, typically solar or wind, through electrolysis of water, without using fossil fuels. Under Indian standards, hydrogen qualifies as ‘green’ only if lifecycle emissions remain below 2 kg of CO₂ equivalent per kg of hydrogen produced.
The fuel is seen as critical for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors such as fertilisers, refining, steel, shipping and heavy transport, sectors where direct electrification is difficult. Each kilogram of conventional hydrogen consumed releases approximately 10 kilograms of CO₂. This trend makes the shift inevitable in the long run.
Green hydrogen not only addresses India’s Paris Agreement commitment to Net Zero by 2070 but also supports its vision to become a developed nation by 2047. For India, green hydrogen is much more than combating climate change.
Why The Target Slipped From 5 MMT To 3 MMT By 2030
Startups working on the ground say the revised timeline reflects structural challenges rather than policy failure.
Bhavik Modi, Co-founder and CEO of Yuji Labs, told ETV Bharat that the slowdown stems from multiple factors. “There is insufficient domestic demand for green hydrogen today due to the cost difference between conventional and green hydrogen. Supply chain disruptions and global policy uncertainty have also contributed,” he said.
Another startup founder, Chaitanya Gulati, CEO of NASADYA Labs, said the issue is not unique to India. “The green hydrogen value chain is still being assembled globally. Electrolysers, renewable power, storage, transport, offtake contracts and financing all need to mature together. There is no fully developed global green hydrogen market that India can simply plug into,” he explained.
Despite the delay, Gulati said the original ambition played a vital role. “It sent a strong signal to industry and aligned stakeholders to move faster,” he said.
The Cost Challenge: Why OPEX Matters More Than CAPEX
While falling electrolyser prices have helped reduce capital expenditure (CAPEX), industry experts say operational expenditure (OPEX) remains the decisive factor in making green hydrogen viable.
“OPEX, along with replacement expenditure (REPEX), is the make-or-break lever for the National Green Hydrogen Mission,” Bhavik Modi said. “Green hydrogen is fundamentally an electricity-to-hydrogen business. If power is expensive or electrolyser efficiency degrades, the levelised cost of hydrogen (LCOH) escalates rapidly.”
He explained that while electricity tariffs and water costs are predictable, the bigger challenge lies in hidden operational losses, including intermittent renewable operation, load cycling stress, thermal inefficiencies and parasitic losses, which accelerate electrolyser degradation.
“A typical plant assumes a 20–25 year lifecycle with two to three stack replacements. When invisible losses creep in, these assumptions break down, and LCOH calculations go off track,” Modi said, adding that CAPEX reductions alone will not close the gap with grey hydrogen.
Can Digital Platforms Reduce Costs At Scale?
Yuji Labs has developed Yunify™, an industrial intelligence platform designed to reduce downtime, improve utilisation and slow electrolyser degradation.
“Yunify™ is not a substitute for low-cost power,” Modi said. “It’s like driving a high-performance car without a dashboard. You may have fuel, but without visibility into efficiency, faults and degradation, you waste energy and shorten equipment life.”
He pointed out that in a 20 MW electrolyser plant, lifetime project costs can reach USD 200 million, of which only USD 50 million is upfront CAPEX. “The remaining USD 150 million comes from OPEX and REPEX. Hidden losses can inflate lifecycle costs by up to 12 per cent, more than USD 20 million, without any visible alarm,” he said.
At the gigawatt scale, such inefficiencies compound further. “Platforms like Yunify™ improve effective LCOH by extending stack life and reducing unplanned outages over decades,” Modi said.
Storage And Transport: The Missing Link
While most attention has focused on electrolyser manufacturing and renewable power, startups say storage and logistics are emerging as major bottlenecks.
“Our focus is on hydrogen storage and transport, which are equally limiting,” NASADYA Labs’ Chaitanya Gulati said. “High-pressure storage systems drive up cost and complexity.”
NASADYA is developing solid-state hydrogen storage, comparable in form factor to batteries, which could materially reduce operating costs and improve safety. “The company was spun out of Stanford and is now scaling from India. This kind of deep-tech infrastructure is essential to make renewable power and electrolyser capacity usable at scale,” he said.
Government Roadmap: Policy, Incentives And Scale
The NGHM has a total outlay of ₹19,744 crore till FY 2029–30, including:
- ₹17,490 crore for the SIGHT incentive scheme
- ₹1,466 crore for pilot projects
- ₹400 crore for R&D
- ₹388 crore for other mission components
By 2030, the Mission aims to support 125 GW of renewable capacity dedicated to hydrogen, attract investments exceeding ₹8 lakh crore, create over 6 lakh jobs, reduce fossil fuel imports by ₹1 lakh crore, and cut nearly 50 MMT of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
As of May 2025, 19 companies have been allocated 862,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen production capacity, and 15 firms have been awarded 3,000 MW of electrolyser manufacturing capacity.
Demand Creation: Where Adoption Is Beginning
Experts agree that adoption will begin with sectors that already consume hydrogen at scale.
“Green hydrogen is essential, not optional,” Gulati said. “Refineries, fertilisers and chemicals will move first. Mobility will follow later as costs fall.”
Recent tenders support this view. A green ammonia auction for fertiliser units has secured long-term supply at ₹55.75 per kg, with procurement capacity of 7.24 lakh tonnes per annum.
In steel, five pilot projects are underway to test hydrogen-based iron reduction. In refining, fossil-based hydrogen is gradually being replaced with green hydrogen.
Mobility: Pilots Before Mass Adoption
Hydrogen mobility remains at a pilot stage. In March, 37 hydrogen vehicles, including buses and trucks, were deployed across 10 routes with nine refuelling stations, backed by ₹208 crore in government support.
High-altitude feasibility has also been demonstrated. In November 2024, NTPC commissioned the world’s highest-altitude hydrogen mobility project in Leh, operating at 3,650 metres.
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Prahlad Joshi recently underscored the symbolism and intent behind hydrogen mobility by personally driving a Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle to Parliament.
“Green hydrogen is emerging as the backbone of future energy systems,” Joshi said, calling the Mirai a “new chapter for sustainable mobility.” He said such initiatives build confidence that hydrogen mobility is suited to Indian conditions.
Certification, Safety And Global Partnerships
In April 2025, India launched the Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme of India (GHCI), making certification mandatory for subsidised projects and domestic sales. The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) acts as the nodal authority.
On the global front, India is building partnerships with the EU, UK, Germany’s H2Global, and Singapore-based firms to enable exports and standardisation.
India has also indicated its intentions at the World Hydrogen Summit held in Rotterdam, which showed the country’s plans for global integration in the hydrogen economy.
While challenges remain, particularly cost, storage and demand creation, experts agree the transition is inevitable. “Adoption will be phased, but structurally inevitable,” Gulati said.
Bhavik Modi summed it up. “Symbolic initiatives matter, but 2026 will be pivotal for industrial adoption. The players bidding aggressively today will define India’s green hydrogen trajectory for decades.”
Supriya Patwardhan, co-founder of Hydrovert Energy, who is also working on the National Green Hydrogen Mission, told ETV Bharat, “Delays in the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) and the reduction of the 2030 production target are primarily linked to the lack of domestic manufacturing of critical electrolyser and fuel-cell components, rather than a lack of long-term demand. Heavy dependence on imports, she said, has pushed up costs, extended project timelines and weakened early adoption of green hydrogen across industries.
Patwardhan said the mission can regain momentum by starting with hydrogen blending in sectors that already use hydrogen extensively, such as oil refining, steel, fertilisers, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Blending green hydrogen in smaller proportions would help industries transition without sharply increasing costs, even as green hydrogen remains more expensive than grey hydrogen.”
She stressed that building a strong domestic supply chain for components such as bipolar plates, membranes, valves, cylinders and power electronics is critical to reducing lead times and system costs. Imported components often take six to twelve months to arrive, delaying project execution and slowing ecosystem development. According to her, targeted financial support and investments in startups and MSMEs can significantly accelerate local manufacturing, as smaller firms move faster and innovate more aggressively than large conglomerates.
Patwardhan also highlighted the role of startups in driving real-world applications of hydrogen. Hydrovert Energy, she said, has developed hydrogen-powered generators as clean alternatives to diesel gensets and is working on hydrogen-based propulsion systems for defence and marine use.
On adoption, she said, “Green hydrogen vehicles will gain traction as refuelling stations expand under hydrogen valley projects in key cities. With fast refuelling times and longer range compared to electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered engines offer a practical zero-emission alternative for heavy-duty transport, generators and commercial fleets, especially as cities move to restrict diesel use due to rising air pollution.”
