The following is an excerpt from Raunaq Chandrashekar and Meera Gopal's op-ed in the Economic Times. Raunaq is a former intern at the Asia Society Policy Institute, and Meera is a Senior Program Officer of Climate. 

India’s 2024 Union Budget included several announcements for clean energy transition efforts. Notably, INR 600 crore (USD 72 million) was allocated to the National Green Hydrogen Mission – first made during February’s Interim Budget – representing a more than double allocation from last year’s budget.

While certainly promising, the Budget lacked any further announcements on how this might be disbursed or what India’s immediate priorities must be. This year’s allocation must be prioritized to address fundamental challenges for scaling the Green Hydrogen Mission — namely, unlocking demand, de-risking finance, and balancing equitable resource use. Doing so would ensure that the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s efforts are aligned with, and on track to meet the ambitious targets under the Mission. 

The Mission, launched in January 2023, with an initial outlay of INR 19,744 crore (USD 2.38 billion), aims to make India a global hub for green H2. This aligns with India’s goal of energy independence by 2047, by reducing energy imports, and achieving net zero emissions by 2070. It targets an annual green H2 production capacity of 5 million metric tonnes (MMT) by 2030 with a potential 10 MMT/year growth in export markets, identifying ammonia, petroleum refining, steelmaking, derivative fuels, and city gas distribution as key applications.

To meet these targets, the Mission focuses on promoting the indigenous manufacturing of green H2 electrolyzers by allocating INR 4,500 crore (USD 537 million) for incentives to stimulate domestic manufacturing. That said, these ambitions come with their own set of hurdles that need to be tackled in a responsible and timely manner. Through emerging research, analysis, and expert discussions, including the report, “Green Hydrogen for Decarbonizing Asia’s Industrial Giants” by the Asia Society Policy Institute, we identify three key challenges that the MNRE must focus on in the coming year. 

Read the full op-ed in the Economic Times.