PIB TrackerThirty thousand tonnes of green hydrogen, headed for refineries
Under SIGHT Mode-2B, 30 KTPA of green hydrogen production has been awarded across four refineries — Panipat, Bina, Vizag and Numaligarh — built and run by private developers on a Build-Own-Operate basis.
What happened
- 30 KTPA of green hydrogen capacity was awarded for refineries under SIGHT Mode-2B.
- Indian Oil Panipat and Numaligarh Refineries take 10 KTPA each.
- BPCL Bina and HPCL Vizag take 5 KTPA each.
- Projects run on Build-Own-Operate arrangements through private developers.
- The stated aims are reduced fossil fuel imports, energy security and net-zero.
For Prelims
- National Green Hydrogen Mission: approved 2023, targeting 5 MMT of annual green hydrogen production capacity by 2030.
- SIGHT: Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition — the Mission's incentive programme; Mode-2B covers refineries.
- The awards: Panipat 10, Numaligarh 10, Bina 5, Vizag 5 — total 30 KTPA.
- Green hydrogen: made by electrolysis of water using renewable electricity; grey hydrogen comes from natural gas, blue adds carbon capture.
- Why refineries first: they already use hydrogen for hydrocracking and desulphurisation, so demand exists.
- BOO: Build-Own-Operate — the developer builds, owns and runs the plant and sells the output.
- Derivatives: green ammonia and green methanol, the export-oriented products of the Mission.
For UPSC: The green hydrogen card with actual numbers. Use it for hard-to-abate sector decarbonisation, the colour taxonomy of hydrogen, why industrial demand anchors a new fuel, and green hydrogen exports under the Mission.
What it is NOT: This is awarded capacity, not commissioned production — 30 KTPA is also a small fraction of the Mission's 5 million tonne target for 2030, and refinery hydrogen demand today is met overwhelmingly by grey hydrogen.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.9 · GS3.14 · Linkage L2
Anchor
Green hydrogen does not need a new market first — it needs to displace the grey hydrogen refineries already burn gas to make.
Substantiation (data)
30 KTPA awarded under SIGHT Mode-2B across Panipat, Numaligarh, Bina and Vizag, all on Build-Own-Operate terms with developer investment.
Exemplification
Refineries use hydrogen for hydrocracking and desulphurisation, so substitution needs no new downstream demand.
Problematisation
Awarded capacity is a fraction of the Mission's 5 MMT 2030 target, and green hydrogen remains costlier than grey without a mandate or a carbon price.
Way-forward
Set phased green-hydrogen consumption obligations for refineries and fertiliser plants, and build shared pipeline and storage infrastructure.
Position
New fuels succeed where they replace an existing input, not where they wait for a new customer.
Deploys into: Energy infrastructure + conservation (GS3.9, GS3.14) · hard-to-abate decarbonisation, the hydrogen colour taxonomy, and industrial demand as the anchor for a new fuel.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy · 2026-08-11 · PRID 2297571 · PIB source ↗