Green hydrogen deals reach 5.55 lakh tonnes, mostly exports

MNRE says Indian firms have signed 23 green hydrogen offtake contracts for about 5.55 lakh tonnes a year - 18 of them in 2026 and over 70 per cent for export to Japan, Korea and Europe - about 11 per cent of the 2030 target, counted in commitments rather than production.

What happened

• MNRE reported 23 green hydrogen offtake contracts covering 5,55,610 MTPA of green hydrogen equivalent as of October 2026, calling it the world's largest set of such commitments; 18 of them, for over 4 lakh MTPA, were signed in 2026.
• Over 70 per cent is earmarked for exports; the commitments equal about 11 per cent of the Mission's 5 MMTPA target and need about Rs 90,000 crore of investment.
• Major deals: ACME-IHI (4,88,000 MTPA green ammonia, Japan), ACME-Mitsubishi Gas Chemical (1,00,000 MTPA methanol), L&T-ITOCHU (3,00,000 TPA ammonia from December 2029), Reliance-Samsung C&T (over US$3 billion, from 2028).
• AM Green won the Asian lot of Germany's H2Global auction (Hintco; at least EUR 585 million over 10 years, deliveries from 2029) and signed with Uniper (2,50,000 MTPA) and JERA (70,000 MTPA).
• Domestic offtake under SIGHT: 6,70,000 MTPA of green ammonia for 11 fertiliser units and 30,000 MTPA of green hydrogen for the refineries of IOCL, BPCL, HPCL and NRL.

For Prelims

• National Green Hydrogen Mission: approved on 4 January 2023 with Rs 19,744 crore - SIGHT Rs 17,490 crore, pilots Rs 1,466 crore, R&D Rs 400 crore, other components Rs 388 crore. Targets for 2030: 5 MMT a year of green hydrogen, about 125 GW of linked renewables, Rs 8 lakh crore of investment, 6 lakh jobs and 50 MMT of CO2 averted a year.
• Offtake agreement: a contract in which a buyer commits to purchase a set quantity of a future product over a period. For a green hydrogen plant, signed offtake is what makes it bankable - lenders finance capacity that has an assured buyer. It is a commitment to buy, not proof of production.
• Derivatives, not gas: hydrogen is hard to ship, so most deals are for green ammonia (NH3) or green methanol. Ammonia is about 17.6 per cent hydrogen by weight, so one tonne of hydrogen makes roughly 5.6 tonnes of ammonia - which is why deals are counted in 'green hydrogen equivalent'.
• Uses of green ammonia and methanol: as bunkering fuel for shipping, for co-firing with coal in thermal power plants, as feedstock for fertilisers, and in refining - the hard-to-abate sectors where direct electrification is difficult.
• H2Global: a German instrument that buys green hydrogen derivatives abroad through long-term contracts and resells them in Europe, covering the price gap with public funds; its auctions are run by Hintco. AM Green's win of the Asian lot is for RFNBO ammonia - the EU's term for Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin.
• SIGHT: the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition programme supports electrolyser manufacturing and green hydrogen production; its auctions created domestic demand - 6,70,000 MTPA of green ammonia for 11 fertiliser units and 30,000 MTPA of hydrogen for refineries.
• Green Hydrogen Standard: notified by MNRE in August 2023 - hydrogen counts as green if emissions do not exceed 2 kg CO2 equivalent per kg, well-to-gate, averaged over 12 months (PIB's green hydrogen backgrounder of 28 October). Export buyers also apply their own standards, such as the EU's RFNBO rules.
• Export orientation: with over 70 per cent of contracted volume for Japan, Korea, Germany and other buyers, the early market is export-led. Domestic use under SIGHT - fertiliser and refining - is the part that directly cuts India's own emissions and imported fossil feedstock.

For Mains

Syllabus: GS3.9 · GS3.14 · Linkage L1