How can India leverage its renewable energy resource endowment to become a global hub for green hydrogen production and export?

Green hydrogen — water electrolysed using renewable power — is where India's resource endowment converts directly into export competitiveness. Having crossed 274.68 GW of renewable capacity by March 2026 and achieved 50% non-fossil installed capacity five years ahead of its NDC target [4], India's task now is to convert cheap electrons into cheap, certified molecules.

Converting the renewable base into cheap hydrogen

• Dedicate the ~125 GW of new renewable capacity envisaged under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM, ₹19,744 crore) to electrolysis, since power is ~70% of hydrogen cost [1].
• Locate plants in high-irradiance, high-wind zones (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu) and use the 25-year ISTS charge waiver for plants commissioned by 31.12.2030 to cut landed cost [2].
• Pair solar with wind and storage for round-the-clock supply, raising electrolyser utilisation.

Building the manufacturing and demand ecosystem

• Scale the SIGHT programme (₹17,490 crore), which has already awarded 3,000 MW/annum of electrolyser manufacturing to 15 firms and 8.62 lakh tonnes of production capacity to 18 firms [2].
• Anchor domestic offtake through pilot projects in steel, shipping and mobility (₹1,466 crore) so exports rest on a mature home market [1].
• Sustain R&D (₹400 crore) to cut electrolyser capital cost and rare-material dependence [1].

Securing export markets

• Deepen buyer partnerships: the Indo-German Green Hydrogen Roadmap, released at the 7th India–Germany IGC (October 2024), covers trade, export and certification, with a permanent working group under the Indo-German Energy Forum [3].
• Develop green hydrogen hubs at ports (Kandla, Tuticorin, Paradip) for ammonia-based shipment, and align India's certification with importing-country standards — critical to serving the ~10% of global demand India targets by 2030 [5].

Thus, India's comparative advantage in renewables is necessary but not sufficient; hub status will follow only if cheap power is matched by domestic electrolyser manufacturing, credible certification and long-term offtake contracts. Sustained on this path, green hydrogen can cut over ₹1 lakh crore of fossil-fuel imports, avoid nearly 50 MMT of CO₂ annually and create six lakh jobs by 2030 [1] — advancing both energy security and India's Paris commitments.