On paper, India has lined up enough green hydrogen to start cleaning up its heaviest industries. Barely one percent of that capacity is actually running yet. Green hydrogen production in India is held up by one machine and the clean power that feeds it.
This piece explains how the fuel is actually made, what sits at the centre of the process, why India is building these machines at home, and where the hydrogen goes next. No chemistry wall, just a clear view of where India really stands.
Hydrogen type | How it is made | Energy source | Emissions |
Grey | Steam reforming of natural gas | Fossil gas | High |
Blue | Natural-gas reforming with carbon capture | Fossil gas | Lower |
Green | Electrolysis of water using renewable electricity | Solar or wind | Near zero |
What Is Green Hydrogen, and How Is It Produced?
Green hydrogen is hydrogen produced by splitting water through electrolysis powered by renewable electricity. The method is water electrolysis for green hydrogen, and the green hydrogen production process is short:
- Pass a current through water and the molecule splits
- Hydrogen collects at one electrode, oxygen at the other
What makes it green is the electricity, not the hydrogen. Coal fired power leaves a heavy carbon trail. Solar or wind makes it near emission free, which is what how green hydrogen is produced in India turns on.
What Role Does the Electrolyser Play in Green Hydrogen?
The green hydrogen electrolyser is the machine that does the splitting, and the costliest part of any plant. The electrolyser role in green hydrogen is simple: water and power in, hydrogen out, and how good the machine is sets the cost.
Four things separate one electrolyser from another:
- Electricity needed per kilogram of hydrogen
- How long the stack lasts before it wears out
- How well it handles solar and wind that vary through the day
- How pure the water has to be
How Do Solar and Wind Power Green Hydrogen Production?
An electrolyser is only as clean as the power behind it, which is where renewable energy for green hydrogen decides everything. India is well placed:
- Strong sun in the west, steady wind along the coast
- Among the cheapest solar tariffs anywhere
- Most early projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan
The part people miss is cost. Renewable power is the biggest share of what green hydrogen costs, so cheaper electricity means cheaper hydrogen. Making green hydrogen from solar and wind energy is why KP Group, already running both through KPI Green Energy and KP Energy, builds its hydrogen work on that supply.
Electrolyser type | Maturity | Best suited to | Relative cost |
Alkaline | Established, most used | Steady, large output | Lowest |
PEM | Commercial | Variable solar and wind, high purity | Higher |
SOEC | Mostly pilot stage | Sites with spare heat, like steel | High |
AEM | Emerging | Compact setups, still maturing | Falling as it scales |
Why Is India Manufacturing Its Own Electrolysers?
India imported its electrolysers for years, and imported machines carry duties, shipping and currency risk. Green hydrogen manufacturing India could not get cheap while its core kit came from elsewhere.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission set out to change that:
- An outlay of ₹19,744 crore
- At least 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030
- Electrolysers treated as critical equipment to build at home
The push for electrolyser manufacturing in India runs through the SIGHT scheme for electrolyser manufacturing, paying incentives for domestic capacity. Fifteen firms now hold awards for 3,000 MW a year.
What Is the Green Hydrogen Value Chain in India?
Hydrogen is light, hard to store and awkward to move, so much of it never travels as hydrogen at all. A large share is turned into ammonia instead.
Green ammonia production in India makes a stable liquid that ships easily and is wanted as fertiliser feedstock and an export fuel. That step, with storage and transport, is where much of the real work sits, covered in this guide to how green hydrogen is stored, compressed, and moved once it is made.
End to end, the green hydrogen value chain India is building runs from solar and wind, through the electrolyser, to hydrogen and on to ammonia. KPI Green Hydrogen & Ammonia, KP Group’s dedicated arm, spans that chain.
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Quick Takeaway
Green hydrogen is made by splitting water with renewable electricity, and the electrolyser is the machine at the heart of it. India has the clean power and the policy push. What it lacks is volume. Awarded capacity covers about a sixth of the 2030 target. Built capacity is a fraction of one percent.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Approximately 9 to 11 litres of purified water are consumed per kilogram of hydrogen produced. Usually, demineralised water is needed, So water quality and availability are important, mostly in the dry states like Gujarat and Rajasthan where most of the projects are located.
Not yet. Green hydrogen is priced roughly between 397 and 560 per kilogram, whereas grey hydrogen from natural gas is about 150 to 200. Bridging that difference takes more affordable renewable power and domestically produced electrolysers, which is exactly what the current policy is encouraging.
Alkaline electrolysers are the older, cheaper and most widely used type, suited to steady output. PEM electrolysers cost more but respond better to solar and wind that vary through the day, and produce very pure hydrogen. The right pick depends on the power source and the budget.
SIGHT stands for Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition. This is the component of the National Green Hydrogen Mission that offers financial incentives to businesses producing green hydrogen and those manufacturing electrolysers in India.
In fact, as the sun is not shining all the time, a solar only plant will be able to generate electricity only when power is available unless it is paired with storage or grid backup. Many projects combine solar with wind, which is why hybrid renewable supply is common in Indian green hydrogen plans.
