India's Green Hydrogen Ambition

Ambitious targets are in place, pilot projects are underway, but demand creation and cost reduction will decide green hydrogen’s future in India

- POOJA YADAV

As Budget 2026 approaches, India's green hydrogen ecosystem stands at an inflexLion point. Following several years of ambitious targets, pilot projects, and policy announcements, the focus is shifting from planning to implementation. The key question for policymakers and industry is how quickly green hydrogen can move from concept to practical deployment and whether fiscal and regulatory measures can bridge the gap between early ambition and market demand.

Why Green Hydrogen Matters Hydrogen is already part of India's energy system, but its emission profile varies by production pathway. Grey hydrogen, produced from natural gas, has high carbon emissions, while blue hydrogen also relies on fossil fuels and employs carbon capture, though it does not fully eliminate emissions. In contrast, green hydrogen is produced by splitting water using renewable electricity, generating almost zero carbon emissions.

This positions green hydrogen as a strategic enabler of India's climate transition, particularly for decarbonising sectors like steel, fertilisers, and oil refining, where electrification is challenging. By enabling deep emissions reductions in these sectors, green hydrogen directly supports India's updated NDC targets of a 45 per cent reduction in emissions intensity and about 50 per cent of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030, reinforcing the pathway to netzero emissions by 2070.

India's Green Hydrogen Momentum