The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has released a new briefing note titled Enabling Sustainable Demand for Green Hydrogen in India, jointly authored by Charith Konda, Energy Specialist for India Mobility and New Energy, and Kaira Rakheja, Energy Analyst for South Asia. The report examines how India can unlock large-scale and sustained demand for green hydrogen by strengthening policy signals, reducing cost barriers and building essential infrastructure.

The authors highlight that as of August 2025, India had 158 green hydrogen projects at various stages of development. However, 94 per cent of planned capacity remains at the announcement stage, with only 0.1 per cent under construction and 2.8 per cent operational, underscoring India’s slow pace of commissioning.

Key barriers include a lack of committed buyers due to unclear demand signals, high production costs, inconsistent global definitions of green hydrogen and inadequate infrastructure—particularly for storage, transportation and shared facilities.

Industry estimates suggest that India’s total hydrogen demand could reach 15–20 million tonnes per annum by 2030. If supportive policies are implemented to drive adoption across steel, transport, chemicals and exports, green hydrogen alone could account for 4.08–6.57 million tonnes annually.

To scale demand and accelerate project implementation, the report identifies several critical measures:

establishing a globally accepted emissions-accounting framework;

introducing hydrogen purchase obligations;

adopting demand aggregation to reduce risks for producers;

developing hydrogen hubs with shared infrastructure for storage and transport.

IEEFA notes that these steps will be essential for India to build a credible domestic market, attract investment and position itself as a competitive global supplier of green hydrogen.