India as a global green hydrogen hub

The Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is implementing the National Green Hydrogen Mission, with an aim to build a strong domestic green hydrogen ecosystem and position India as a potential global hub for its production, use and export, according to a government press release. India’s National Hydrogen Mission is a major policy enabler to make India reach its climate targets and become a hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia production.

In addition, the country is targeting to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and scale up its renewable energy capacity GW 500. The aim is to bring down the cost of green hydrogen to $1.5 per kg and have five million tonnes per year green hydrogen capacity by 2030. India has an advantage here due to its geographical location, climate conditions and abundance of renewable sources of energy like solar, wind and hydropower making it ideal for becoming the world’s cheapest hub for green hydrogen by 2050. Last year, the Ministry had formally recognised three major ports Deendayal Port Authority (Gujarat), V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority (Tamil Nadu), and Paradip Port Authority (Odisha) as Green Hydrogen Hubs under the Mission. This recognition marked a significant step towards creating an integrated hydrogen ecosystem and advancing India’s transition towards clean energy.

Inaugurating the Bharat Renewable Energy (BRE) Summit & Expo 2026 last week, Indian Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi had said that India’s decade-long shift to renewable energy had helped the country sustain high economic growth despite global disruptions. Warning that continued over-reliance on fossil fuels would repeatedly disrupt the global economy, PM Modi added that the future of energy security lay in clean energy and announced that India planned to install another 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity over the next 10 to 11 years. He also pointed out that India now ranks among the top three nations in solar and renewable energy, with over 50% non-fossil installed capacity and nearly 300 GW already achieved towards the 500 GW target, PM Modi also highlighted that India remained committed to ensuring that funding, technology and expertise reached every country in need. He said that for Africa, a proposal for a $200 million Africa Solar Facility has been put forward and that the coming decade was vital for global climate goals. He acknowledged that power generation must be matched by efficient distribution from high-production solar and wind zones to regions with lower output, so that homes, farms and industries across the country benefit equally. He referred to the Centre’s development of Green Energy Corridors, including transmission lines and substations supported by the ‘One Nation, One Power Grid’ network, which unified five regional grids onto a single frequency.

Approved in 2023, a Green Hydrogen Organisation brief explains that the Mission is expected to yield wide-ranging benefits, including the creation of export opportunities for green hydrogen and its derivatives, decarbonization of the industrial, mobility, and energy sectors, reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels and feedstock, development of indigenous manufacturing capabilities, creation of employment opportunities, and advancement of cutting-edge technologies.

India’s green hydrogen production capacity is anticipated to reach at least 5 MMT million metric tons per annum, with an associated addition of approximately 125 GW in renewable energy capacity. By 2030, the Mission aims to attract huge investments and create over 600,000 jobs. Nearly 50 million metric tons of CO2 emissions are expected to be averted by 2030. The Mission will facilitate the creation of demand, production, utilization, and export of green hydrogen. Under one of the programmes, two distinct financial incentive mechanisms will be offered to promote domestic manufacturing of electrolysers and the production of green hydrogen.

The Mission will also support pilot projects in emerging end-use sectors and various production pathways. Regions supporting large-scale output and/or utilization of hydrogen will be identified and developed as Green Hydrogen Hubs. Recognising the logistical and technical challenges associated with long-distance hydrogen transport, the Mission adopts a cluster-based development model. This approach enhances early-stage project viability, enables infrastructure convergence, and helps achieve economies of scale in identified regions. The aim is to make India a global hub for producing, using, and exporting green hydrogen and its derivatives.