The Time to Pivot to Green Hydrogen is Now
Summary
Unpredictability in oil and gas supply is impacting energy affordability in India, hitting small businesses and informal enterprises—especially hard. Alternatives like PNG remain unevenly accessible; Against this backdrop, green hydrogen needs to be explored not as a distant solution but as a practical complement to current fuels. India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission and advances in electrolyzer, storage, and transmission technologies can enhance India’s energy security and reduce GHG emissions. NTPC’s pioneer work in PNG and Hydrogen gas blending, hydrogen based cookstove to prepare food and solar-hydrogen micro grid provide strong instances for renewed policy focus and investment to scale proven technologies till future advancement makes Green Hydrogen more mainstream.
The Immediate Energy Challenge
Volatility in global oil markets, driven in part by conflicts in West Asia and Europe, has disrupted supply chains and pushed gas prices upward. Rising prices for commercial LPG, including 5 kg cylinders commonly used by small vendors and informal enterprises, are likely to hit solo entrepreneurs, micro and small businesses, and daily wage earners especially hard. Despite the strong push by the government to switch to PNG and the advantages of PNG over LPG, access remains unreliable or non-existent outside major cities, leaving many users without a reliable alternative.
Why Green Hydrogen Matters Now
Green hydrogen should no longer be treated as an option for the future. It deserves a higher place on India’s policy and investment agenda. India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission, launched in 2023 with a target of 5 MMTPA of green hydrogen production by 2030 provides that foundation.
Maturity in electrolyser technology, along with advances in storage and transmission technology has strengthened moved the needle in favor of green hydrogen as a viable energy source. It is, perhaps, not yet ready to displace conventional fuels across the board, but it is ready for targeted early applications—especially blending into gas networks, decentralized supply in remote areas, and other pilot uses where energy security and emissions reduction can be demonstrated together.
Cases of Successful Implementation
- NTPC’s NETRA facilityin Greater Noida, has demonstrated successfully a hydrogen-based modified cookstove for cooking using supply from its on-site green hydrogen plant.
- NTPC and Gujarat Gasbegan India’s first green hydrogen blending operation in a PNG network, initially approved for 5% blending with a phased pathway to higher levels at Kawas in Surat.
- NTPC has also partnered with the Indian Army on a solar-hydrogen microgrid at Chushul in Ladakh, designed to deliver 200 kW of round-the-clock power in an off-grid, high-altitude location.
NTPC’s ventures indicate that India is already on its way to address one of green hydrogen’s hardest challenges: storage and transmission. These early efforts offer a practical model for wider residential and commercial use. Further advances, however, are still needed to manage the intermittency in supply of renewable power from wind and solar sources.
India’s Strategic Advantage
Globally, only 4% of hydrogen is produced through water electrolysis; most still come from natural gas and coal. India, however, is well positioned to shift that scale. By late 2025, India had more than 132 GW of installed solar capacity and nearly 54 GW of wind capacity, giving it a strong renewable base from which to scale green hydrogen production and strengthen long-term energy self-reliance.
Measures to take Green Hydrogen Mainstream
- Expansion of pilot projects in clearly defined segments, especially gas blending, and remote microgrids.
- Increased funding of storage, transmission, and safety infrastructure through targeted public investment and public-private partnerships.
- Widespread promotion of existing policy tools—including the National Green Hydrogen Mission, production incentives, and waived interstate transmission charges—to lower early deployment risk.
- Accelerate work onelectrolysers, storage systems, and distribution standards so pilots can move toward commercial scale.
Since Green Hydrogen produces impressively low emissions (less than 1 kg of CO2 for 1 kilogram of H2 depending on the supply chain of the renewable electricity and the overall efficiency of the process); switching to Green Hydrogen will help to achieve two targets-one massive decarbonization and second make India atma nirbhar in the energy sector by reducing its dependency on imported crude oil. India is currently the world’s third largest crude oil importer, importing nearly 80% of its crude oil requirements.
The Missing Element: Urgency
The case for green hydrogen should no longer be merely aspirational. India already has policy support, growing technical capability, and a strong renewable energy base. Cost, efficiency, and safety challenges remain, but they are the reasons to invest and scale—not to wait. Fast-tracking green hydrogen should now mean expanding pilots, building supporting infrastructure, and turning policy support into competitive and profitable deployment. Done right, this would strengthen India’s position in the global clean energy transition while reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels.