From the Editorial Desk · IGHA – Hyvolution India 2026 – 14 August, 2026
For the last few years, India’s green hydrogen story has been dominated by targets, announcements and pilot projects.
That was necessary. Every new industry starts that way.
But the conversation is changing now.
The question facing green hydrogen in India is no longer simply whether the technology works or whether the country can produce hydrogen from renewable power. We now need to see whether projects can be built at scale, operate reliably and deliver hydrogen or its derivatives at the prices committed to customers.
That is a much more practical—and much more important—test.
SECI’s recent push towards another 1 million tonnes per year of green ammonia for the fertiliser sector is a good example of this transition. It follows agreements for around 7.24 lakh tonnes per year of green ammonia supply signed in March 2026.
There is now real demand on the table.
The industry has to deliver.
What Does Green Hydrogen Scale-Up Actually Mean?
“Scale” sounds simple until you start looking at what a large project actually has to achieve.
A demonstration plant can prove that a technology works. A commercial plant has to prove that it works consistently.
That means answering some fairly straightforward questions:
- Can large electrolyser systems operate reliably for long periods?
- Can stack performance and degradation be managed as expected?
- Can renewable electricity be integrated without disrupting production?
- Can green ammonia facilities maintain their committed output?
- Can projects be completed within their planned cost and schedule?
- Can the product reach the customer reliably and meet the required specifications?
These are no longer policy questions.
They are engineering, financing and operational questions.
And the answers will matter well beyond the first projects. Early commercial plants will set benchmarks for lenders, investors, technology suppliers and industrial buyers.
Why India Has an Advantage in Green Hydrogen
One of India’s biggest strengths is something that is sometimes missed in the global hydrogen discussion: domestic industrial demand.
India already has large fertiliser, refining, chemical, steel and other industrial sectors that consume hydrogen or hydrogen-derived products.
The fertiliser sector is particularly interesting because the demand already exists. Green ammonia does not need to create an entirely new market; it can begin replacing part of an existing supply chain.
SECI’s role is important here. As an implementing and central nodal agency for the National Green Hydrogen Mission, SECI is involved in procurement programmes covering green hydrogen, green ammonia and electrolyser manufacturing.
The National Green Hydrogen Mission has also created mechanisms for demand aggregation and competitive procurement, alongside the SIGHT programme for electrolyser manufacturing and green hydrogen production.
This gives developers something extremely valuable: greater visibility on future demand
Green Ammonia Could Be the First Big Commercial Test
The latest SECI activity makes green ammonia in India one of the areas worth watching particularly closely.
In March, agreements covering around 7.24 lakh tonnes per year were signed for supply to 13 fertiliser units, with 10-year contracts facilitated through SECI under the National Green Hydrogen Mission.
Now SECI is looking at another 1 million tonnes per year.
That is significant not because a large number has been announced, but because it creates a real requirement for production capacity, renewable power, electrolysers, ammonia plants, storage and logistics.
In other words, the demand is beginning to pull the rest of the value chain along.
For me, that is one of the clearest signs that the Indian hydrogen economy is moving into a different phase.
The Electrolyser Question
There is another piece of the puzzle that deserves attention: domestic electrolyser manufacturing.
India does not want the growth of its hydrogen industry to replace dependence on imported fossil fuels with dependence on imported equipment.
The SIGHT programme therefore includes incentives for electrolyser manufacturing as well as green hydrogen production.
The next test is execution.
Manufacturing capacity announced on paper is useful. Manufacturing capacity that can consistently deliver equipment at the required quality, cost and volume is what will make a difference.
India already has approved SIGHT projects representing significant electrolyser manufacturing capacity, including facilities using alkaline and PEM technologies.
The industry now needs to see those capabilities translate into projects.
What Will Determine the Success of Green Hydrogen Projects?
I would watch five things over the next two to three years:
1. Project execution
Are announced projects reaching construction and commissioning on schedule?
2. Actual plant performance
Are electrolyser and ammonia systems delivering the output expected from the original project assumptions?
3. Cost control
Can developers maintain the economics on which their bids and investment decisions were based?
4. Supply-chain readiness
Can equipment suppliers, EPC companies, renewable developers, storage providers and logistics operators scale together?
5. Buyer confidence
Will industrial customers become comfortable signing larger and longer-term contracts?
These indicators will tell us considerably more about the future of green hydrogen in India than another set of ambitious targets.
India’s Green Hydrogen Market Has Entered the Execution Phase
This is where I think the conversation becomes genuinely interesting.
The policy framework is developing. Demand mechanisms are being created. Manufacturing capacity is being established. Commercial projects are moving forward.
Now comes the difficult part.
Execution.
A project that operates successfully for years will build confidence across the sector. A project that faces major delays or performance problems will also teach the industry something—but at a much higher cost.
India therefore has an opportunity to build more than hydrogen production capacity.
It can build engineering capability, manufacturing expertise, project-finance confidence and a domestic supply chain that can eventually compete internationally.
But that opportunity will not be secured by announcements alone.
It will be secured by projects that work.
Where the Industry Conversation Matters
That is why the next phase of green hydrogen projects needs closer interaction between developers, technology companies, EPC players, investors, policymakers and industrial buyers.
IGHA – Hyvolution India 2026, taking place on 17–18 November 2026 at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, provides a platform for those conversations.
The industry is moving from “What could hydrogen become?” to a much more useful question:
“What does it take to build and operate it successfully at scale?”
That is the conversation India needs now.
#IGHAHYVOLUTIONINDIA2026 #GreenHydrogen #HydrogenIndia #GreenAmmonia #HydrogenEconomy #CleanEnergy #EnergyTransition
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What did SECI’s Managing Director say about green hydrogen at the August 2026 conference?
Akash Tripathi, Managing Director of SECI, stated that India’s green hydrogen ambitions must move from ambition to proof of scale. The statement signalled that the demonstration and policy-announcement phase is giving way to the commercial deployment and operational delivery phase. (Source: QCIntel, 7 August 2026)
2. What specific technical challenges constitute ‘proof of scale’ for green ammonia?
Proof of scale requires: continuous electrolyser operation at 100+ MW for 8,000+ hours per year; stack degradation within performance guarantees; successful integration of variable renewable energy with steady-state ammonia synthesis; reliable delivery of product meeting fertiliser-grade purity specifications at contracted volume and price for 10-year terms.
3. What is SECI’s role in India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission?
SECI is the Implementing Agency and Central Nodal Agency of NGHM. It conducts competitive tenders under the SIGHT programme for electrolyser manufacturing, green hydrogen production, and green ammonia supply. SECI also monitors SIGHT-funded projects and plays a central role in price discovery for hydrogen derivatives.
4. Why does India have a structural advantage in proving green hydrogen at scale?
India has a large, government-facilitated domestic demand base in the fertiliser sector that creates bankable off-take certainty — a prerequisite for project finance at commercial scale. This domestic demand anchor is absent in most other countries pursuing green hydrogen export ambitions, making India’s route to proof of scale more commercially viable.
5. What is the electrolyser manufacturing target under SIGHT?
India’s SIGHT programme aims to develop domestic electrolyser manufacturing capacity to support the NGHM’s green hydrogen production targets. Competitive tenders for electrolyser manufacturing capacity have been issued by SECI, with financial incentives designed to attract both Indian industrial conglomerates and international joint venture partnerships.
6. What does ‘within India’ mean in the context of green ammonia supply?
SECI’s current green ammonia programme is focused on domestic supply to Indian fertiliser manufacturers — not export. This deliberate domestic-first sequencing allows India to establish operational track records, develop certification frameworks, and demonstrate reliable delivery before pursuing large-scale international export commitments.
7. What is the timeline for the next wave of green hydrogen production facilities in India?
The first SIGHT-funded green hydrogen production facilities are expected to enter construction phase in 2026-27, with initial production deliveries under the contracted supply agreements targeted in the 2027-28 timeframe. Electrolyser manufacturing capacity development is on a parallel track.
8. How does the SECI green ammonia programme address the bankability challenge?
By providing competitively-tendered, government-facilitated, 10-year supply contracts with known off-takers and agreed prices, SECI’s programme creates the revenue certainty structure that project lenders require. The contracts function as an offtake agreement anchor that supports project finance debt structuring for production facility developers.
9. What role do electrolyser stacks play in the proof-of-scale challenge?
Electrolyser stacks are the core of green hydrogen production and the most technology-critical component. Proving that stacks can operate continuously at commercial scale (100+ MW), maintain efficiency over multi-year operating periods, and be manufactured cost-competitively in India is the central technology challenge in the current phase of India’s hydrogen programme.
10. How does IGHA – Hyvolution India 2026 connect to the proof-of-scale agenda?
IGHA – Hyvolution India 2026 (17–18 November, India Expo Mart, Greater Noida, listed on NGHM’s official events calendar) hosts the Technical Conference dedicated to engineering and operational excellence in hydrogen — precisely the proof-of-scale conversation. Electrolyser technology, operations management, cost reduction pathways, and supply chain development will all be on the agenda. Register at igha-hyvolution.com. #IGHAHYVOLUTIONINDIA2026.
Sources & References
• QCIntel — SECI Says Green H2 Must Move to Proof of Scale (7 Aug 2026)
• MNRE — National Green Hydrogen Mission
• NGHM Events Calendar (IGHA listed)