Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Shri R. K. Singh  said that the government is working to develop mandates for green hydrogen blending in refineries, fertilisers, and city gas networks. These would create the necessary demand and lead to economies of scale for critical technologies like electrolysers.

The government is also developing a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) programme to support the indigenisation of electrolysers. The initiative would target the establishment of 10 GW of domestic manufacturing capacity.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the National Hydrogen Mission and his vision to make India a global green hydrogen production and export hub last month.

 In recent months, leading Indian companies have expressed interest in scaling up green hydrogen. In February, the union government announced a host of incentives as part of the Green Hydrogen Policy to develop India as a hub for green hydrogen manufacturing and exports. In October, RIL and Danish electrolyser manufacturer, Stiesdal, signed agreements to start local manufacturing in India. This could well be the start of a new industry that could support India’s economic growth in the coming decades.

 Corporate boardrooms have also bought into the viability of the technology. Last year, some of India’s biggest companies announced substantial investments in different parts of the green hydrogen ecosystem. Globally, steel manufacturing contributes to around 7% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2021, India’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer, Tata Motors Ltd joined hands with Indian Oil Corp LTD to conduct a trial with 15 hydrogen fuel-cell-powered buses.Investments from the likes of IOCL also augurs well as this would ensure investments in production, storage, and supply of green hydrogen. The CEEW study recommends setting up a pilot green steel plant in India to promote domestic expertise in using hydrogen for steelmaking.

 Policy changes that nudge Indian steelmakers to institutionalise high R&D spending and participate in technology collaboration and pilots must also be pursued. Finally, the hydrogen economy will need support from regulatory drivers like strict emissions norms and a pricing mechanism that penalises polluting fuels and incentivises cleaner alternatives.

A thriving local production ecosystem will not only create a domestic market but is expected to push exports as well, especially to countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and others. Export is considered lucrative since companies draw higher profit margins.