A report by government think tank NITI Aayog, in partnership with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), has prescribed ten ways India can emerge as the global hub of green hydrogen.

If the right steps are taken, India could have the world’s highest green hydrogen generation capacity of over 60 GW by 2030, said the report titled “Harnessing Green Hydrogen: Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India.”

As a first step, “The National Hydrogen Mission announcement should be complemented with further policy direction in the form of a national roadmap/strategy,” the report said.

The second direction suggested by the report is to work towards a cost reduction strategy that will make green hydrogen available for $1/kg by 2030. Thirdly, refinery and fertilizer sectors should be mandated to have 50% green and 100% hydrogen usage respectively by 2030.

NITI Aayog suggested that 1,000 trucks, 50 boats, and ten aircraft be piloted to run on hydrogen by 2030. The manufacturing of electrolyzers in India should look at a minimum target of 25 GW by 2030.

The report also suggested the following:

• New products such as electrolyzers and fuel cells are evolved.
• The government to explore forming government-to-government partnerships with Japan, Korea, Germany, and others and integrate green hydrogen into existing energy and industrial partnerships.
• The government must assume a larger role in providing financial certainty to early adopters of energy transition technologies
• States should take focused action to complement national-level policies similar to the policy efforts on Electric Vehicle adoption in India
• The government should encourage capacity building and skill development to enable a green hydrogen economy.
• An interdisciplinary Project Management Unit with globally trained experts to achieve the targets with a missionary zeal must be created.

“Adoption of green hydrogen can enable India to abate 3.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions cumulatively between now and 2050,” the report estimated.

Many sectors such as iron ore and steel, fertilizers, refinery, methanol, heavy-duty trucking, aviation, and maritime shipping emit large amounts of carbon dioxide. Helping these sectors with carbon-free hydrogen (green hydrogen) will be critical in enabling deep decarbonization. Per the report, making India a global hub for green hydrogen will help the country transition to clean energy and meet the net-zero targets by 2070.

“India’s distinct advantage in low-cost renewable energy generation makes green hydrogen the most competitive form of hydrogen in the long run,” the report said. “Green hydrogen can achieve cost parity with natural gas-based hydrogen (grey hydrogen) by 2030, if not before.”

The report also suggested incentivization, viability gap funding, and a $1 billion investment in research and development.

Recently, the industry-led coalition India Hydrogen Alliance sought government financial support of $360 million for its proposed 25/25 National Green Hydrogen Development Plan to create first-generation national green hydrogen projects and national hydrogen hubs in India by 2025.

In February this year, the Ministry of Power announced a Green Hydrogen Policy to help India meet the production target of 5 million tons of green hydrogen by 2030.