After the Union Cabinet approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission earlier this month, with an initial outlay of ₹197.44 billion (~$2.3 billion), the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) released the mission’s framework detailing the key actions, incentives, and outcomes under the program.

The mission aims to provide an action plan to establish a green hydrogen ecosystem and develop and scale up its production technology while making it affordable and widely accessible.

Outcomes

The mission is expected to result in significant decarbonization of the economy, reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports, and enable India to assume technology and market leadership in green hydrogen.

The production capacity targeted by 2030 is likely to leverage over ₹8 trillion (~$96.5 billion) in investments and create over 600,00 jobs. It will also help in cutting nearly 50 million metric tons (MMT) per annum of CO2 emissions.

Green Hydrogen is likely to play a critical role in India’s energy transition, particularly in the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors.

Mission Objectives 

The overarching objective is to make India the global hub for the production, usage, and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives.

• The mission will build capabilities to produce at least 5 million MMT of green hydrogen per annum by 2030, with the potential to reach 10 MMT with the growth of export markets
• It will support the replacement of fossil fuels and fossil fuel-based feedstocks with renewable fuels and feedstocks based on green hydrogen
• It will make use of green hydrogen-derived synthetic fuels (including green ammonia, and green methanol) to replace fossil fuels in various sectors including mobility, shipping, and aviation.
• The mission also aims to make India a leader in the technology and manufacturing of electrolyzers and other enabling technologies for green hydrogen

The mission strategy comprises the following interventions for the widespread adoption of the fuel: Fig: Interventions under the mission strategy

Costs of Producing Green Hydrogen 

The Mission seeks to undertake steps to enable cost reduction in various aspects of the process. These mainly include the investment in electrolyzer technology and input renewable energy.

Additionally, the costs of capital, supply and treatment of water, storage and distribution, conversion of hydrogen to suitable derivatives, and enabling infrastructure also contribute significantly to the final delivered cost of green hydrogen.

Financing the Mission would require both public and private investments and in principle, the government of India’s support will de-risk private investment from various sources.

The ministry’s report emphasized that it aims to create a multiplier effect in investment using government support and creating an enabling environment for accelerated growth of green hydrogen production, uptake, and exports.

Of the total outlay for the mission approved by the Cabinet, ₹174.9 billion (~$2.1 billion) is earmarked for the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition Program (SIGHT). The rest of the outlay has been divided initiatives including ₹14.66 billion (~$177 million) for pilot projects, ₹4 billion (~$48.3 million) for research and development, and ₹3.88 billion (~$46.8million) towards other mission components.

The later phase of the mission will build on these foundational activities and undertake green hydrogen initiatives in new sectors of the economy.

In July 2022, NITI Aayog prescribed ten steps to make India a global green hydrogen hub.