The National Green Hydrogen Mission

The mission aims to make India a centre for producing, using, and exporting green hydrogen and its products. MNRE leads it, and the Cabinet approved an initial ₹19,744 crore on 4 January 2023.

• The idea. Imagine a fertiliser plant using hydrogen made from natural gas. It could buy green hydrogen instead, cutting emissions from making that hydrogen.
• The catch. That benefit still depends on clean electricity and sound project design.
• The key concept. Hydrogen is an energy carrier, not an energy source. Electricity makes it, and users later draw energy back out of it.

The mission aims for at least 5 million metric tonnes of annual green hydrogen production capacity by 2030.

• Linked renewable capacity. It’s tied to about 125 gigawatts of added renewable-power capacity.
• Emissions projection. The Cabinet also projected about 50 million tonnes of annual greenhouse-gas emissions avoided by 2030.
• Read carefully. These are targets and projections, not measured 2026 output or achieved savings. A plant’s rated yearly capacity can differ from its actual yearly production.

The initial ₹19,744 crore outlay has four parts. The largest is SIGHT — Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition.

• March 2026 status. MNRE reported awards to 18 hydrogen producers and 15 electrolyser manufacturers, covering 862,000 tonnes/year of awarded production capacity.
• Watch this distinction. An award is a project commitment. It does not prove a factory has started operating — check commissioning and actual supply separately.

Electrolysis itself splits water. But a coal-powered electrolyser can still cause high emissions elsewhere in the grid.

• India’s standard. The 2023 Green Hydrogen Standard limits well-to-gate emissions to 2 kilograms of CO2-equivalent per kilogram of hydrogen.
• 2025 certification. MNRE’s scheme also counts emissions from any non-renewable energy used at the plant.
• Colour labels aren’t proof. Grey hydrogen normally comes from fossil fuels without carbon capture. Blue hydrogen uses fossil fuels with carbon capture. The measured emissions matter more than a colour name alone.

Industry already uses hydrogen to make ammonia for fertiliser and to process oil. Replacing fossil-based hydrogen there can cut emissions.

• Hard-to-electrify sectors. Steel, fertiliser, refining, and some shipping are difficult to clean up with batteries alone.
• Fuel forms. Ships may use green ammonia or methanol. A fuel cell turns hydrogen into electricity for vehicles, with water as its exhaust.
• Direct combustion too. Hydrogen can burn in a suitable engine, and some gas systems can carry limited blends after technical checks.

Direct use of clean electricity often wastes less energy. Hydrogen is most useful where direct electrification is genuinely difficult.

2026 brought both a real industrial pilot and a sober reality check on cost and scale.

• A genuine first. Maruti Suzuki commissioned a 300 kW green hydrogen electrolyser pilot at its Manesar plant on 24 September 2026. It blends hydrogen with natural gas as a process fuel, with plans to scale up in Gujarat.
• The price is now visible. SECI’s price discovery on 29 September 2026 fixed green ammonia rates from two suppliers. ACME Cleantech came in at ₹49.75/kg, and Indorama India at ₹64.74/kg, for a combined 724,000 tonnes a year.
• The gap that matters. Independent reporting put actually commissioned capacity at only around 8,000 tonnes/year by early 2026 — a small fraction of the 2030 target. Green hydrogen still costs roughly ₹397–560/kg, against ₹150–200/kg for grey hydrogen.
• Updated award figures. An August 2026 Parliament reply cited 756,100 tonnes/year of awarded production capacity across 16 companies. That’s lower than March 2026’s 862,000 tonnes across 18 companies, most likely from a different reporting scope, not a rollback.