The decarbonisation pathway for processes that cannot simply electrify.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission targets 5 MMTPA by 2030. SIGHT incentives provide ₹8.82/kg H₂ in year one. The HPO will create mandatory demand from fertiliser and refining sectors. The West Asia war has conclusively validated the energy security case for domestic green hydrogen — India’s current grey hydrogen dependence is entirely tied to LNG imports transiting Hormuz.
Green hydrogen is the decarbonisation pathway for processes that cannot simply electrify — steel via H₂-DRI, fertilisers via green ammonia, refining via clean hydrogen, heavy transport via fuel cells. India’s policy framework for green hydrogen is still maturing, but the direction is now set and the financial instruments are live. The National Green Hydrogen Mission, launched in January 2023 with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore, targets 5 million metric tonnes per annum of domestic green hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
The West Asia war has added a new urgency to this agenda. India’s current dependence on grey hydrogen — 98 percent of it consumed by the fertiliser and refining sectors — is entirely tied to LNG imports transiting the Strait of Hormuz. At urea import prices of $959 per tonne (April 2026 government tender), the subsidy per imported tonne exceeds Rs 75,000 — more than the total production cost of green urea at current green hydrogen prices. The energy security case for domestic green hydrogen, always compelling in theory, has been validated conclusively by the Hormuz crisis.
National Green Hydrogen Mission
Launched in January 2023, the Mission is India’s central policy vehicle for scaling green hydrogen production. It targets 5 MMTPA of domestic production capacity by 2030, annual CO₂ emission reductions of 50 million metric tonnes, and creation of over 600,000 jobs. Administered by MNRE, with SECI as the implementing agency, it is the policy framework under which all subsequent hydrogen-related programmes and obligations sit. The Mission also targets developing India as a global hub for production and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives — with green ammonia as the primary export commodity.
MNRE Green Hydrogen page →SIGHT Programme
The Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme is the financial delivery mechanism. It provides two categories of incentive: production-linked incentives for domestic electrolyser manufacturing, and demand incentives for green hydrogen production itself declining over three years. The first year rate of Rs 8.82/kg H₂ is the current benchmark referenced in Reclimatize.in’s fertiliser and steel sector analyses. SECI’s second major green hydrogen tender awarded 450,000 tpa of capacity in March 2025 with 10-year offtake agreements — providing the revenue certainty that early producers need to raise project finance.
MNRE SIGHT programme page →Green Hydrogen Purchase Obligation (HPO)
The HPO will require certain industries to procure a minimum quantity of green hydrogen as a share of their total hydrogen consumption. The fertiliser sector — India’s largest industrial hydrogen consumer — and the petroleum refining sector are the primary targets. The HPO is designed to work similarly to the Renewable Purchase Obligation: create a mandatory demand signal that gives green hydrogen producers revenue visibility and therefore the ability to raise capital for large projects. MNRE has published two detailed articles on this site: the HPO framework overview and the operational mechanics. Two notifications have been issued; the obligation percentages by year are live on the Fertiliser sector page.
Read the HPO framework analysis →Green Hydrogen for Heavy Transport — MHDT Pilot Programme
The National Green Hydrogen Mission approved Rs 500 to 600 crore for five pilot projects covering 37 hydrogen buses and trucks across 10 routes, with nine hydrogen fuelling stations planned on trial corridors. Tata Motors and Adani Enterprises began piloting hydrogen trucks along key freight routes in early 2025. The trial routes link industry clusters, ports, and freight corridors where hydrogen deployment can address both range and payload requirements that constrain battery electric trucks in heavy-haul applications. The two-year trial programme generates the operational data needed to validate the hydrogen truck TCO crossover with diesel at scale.
MNRE website →National Policy on Biofuels
The National Policy on Biofuels supports production, blending, and use of biofuels across transport and industrial sectors. India has set an ethanol blending target of 20 percent in petrol by 2025 and is promoting biodiesel blending and compressed biogas. For industries where direct electrification is difficult and green hydrogen remains expensive — particularly industrial process heat and heavy road transport — biofuels offer a transitional pathway that reduces emissions at lower upfront cost than hydrogen-based alternatives. The policy is administered by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Ministry of Petroleum website →