Hydrogen demand in India expected to increase fourfold by 2050: Niti Aayog report
The report titled “Harnessing Green Hydrogen: Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India” said green hydrogen will achieve cost parity with natural gas-based hydrogen by 2030.
Hydrogen demand in India is expected to increase fourfold by 2050 and the steel industry and heavy-duty transportation will drive 52% of it, according to a NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) report. India has a distinct advantage in low-cost renewable energy generation and it makes the country one of the most competitive producers of green hydrogen in the world, the report added.
“What is beyond electricity? The answer is green hydrogen which will empower the green industrial revolution, not only for India but for the world,” said NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant at the report launch on Wednesday. Kant said the increase in hydrogen demand will happen much quicker and faster and will increase India’s gas imports. He added if India wants to decarbonise sectors where 83% of the energy is consumed, there is a need to bring in green hydrogen. Kant called bringing down the cost of hydrogen a challenge.
Electricity accounts for 17% of total energy consumption and 83% is used as coal, gas, and oil in the refinery sector, fertilizers, long-distance transportation, and steel factories, according to the report.
The report titled “Harnessing Green Hydrogen: Opportunities for Deep Decarbonisation in India” said green hydrogen will achieve cost parity with natural gas-based hydrogen, also called grey hydrogen, by 2030. “From price parity basis alone, green hydrogen’s share of this demand could grow from 16% in 2030 to almost 94% by 2050,” the report said.
The cumulative market for green hydrogen in India is projected to be $8 billion by 2030 and $340 billion by 2050. The report said the adoption of green hydrogen could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.6 gigatonnes between 2030 and 2050.
The report underlined the significance of focusing on domestic demand creation, cost reduction pathways, and early pilots.
India has some of the most competitive levelized costs, or the rates at which the generated electricity should be sold, of electricity in the world and it can benefit from the expansion of green hydrogen production than grey or blue hydrogen, it said.
The demand certainty through favourable policies can “set the stage for green hydrogen to ride the cost reduction curve and achieve scaled adoption in the long term”, the report said. It said hydrogen trade will increase amid the global demand and the disparity between the producing and consuming nations.
The report outlined 10 actionable steps towards a national action plan on green hydrogen. It suggests a detailed roadmap focused on all aspects of green hydrogen.


