By Enersider Desk | New Delhi
The India–Belgium Hydrogen Dialogue held on October 17, 2025 focused on policies and projects related to green hydrogen collaboration between the two countries. The webinar highlighted India’s green hydrogen market opportunities, current progress under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, and proposed areas for partnership with Belgium across policy, technology, and industry.
India’s green hydrogen framework is anchored in the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), which promotes mission-led growth through comprehensive policy measures. The mission includes eight components including the SIGHT programme for incentives, pilot projects in sectors such as steel, mobility, and shipping, creation of hydrogen hubs, infrastructure development, regulatory frameworks, R&D, skill development, and public outreach.
To begin with, the SIGHT (Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition) programme provides USD 2.4 billion (₹19,744 crore) in incentives for electrolyser manufacturing, green hydrogen, and green ammonia production. It also supports innovation clusters and R&D initiatives.
Moreover, at the state level, five dedicated hydrogen policies and two integrated renewable energy–hydrogen policies are under implementation, while several others are under development. These policies focus on capital subsidies, open-access connectivity, fiscal relaxations, and related enablers.
According to estimates, state-level incentives could reach USD 61 billion, covering capital subsidies, interest subvention, SGST reimbursements, and power-related waivers to boost hydrogen deployment.
A stable policy regime and strong industrial base are driving large-scale project development in India as a result of which, domestic tenders have been initiated for around 50,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of green hydrogen for refineries and 725,000 TPA of green ammonia for fertiliser production.
Production incentives have also averaged ₹24.70/kg and ₹17.02/kg in two tranches, amounting to ₹5,270 crore for 860 KTPA over three years.
The SIGHT green ammonia tender has facilitated demand of 724,000 TPA, representing over 25 percent of India’s total ammonia imports, across 13 fertiliser plants, including IFFCO (Kandla and Paradeep), GNFC, Madras Fertilisers, Mangalore Chemicals, Paradeep Phosphates, Coromandel International, Krishana Phoschem, and Madhya Bharat Agro Products.
In the SECI green ammonia auctions, the awarded prices ranged between ₹49.75 and ₹64.74 per kilogram, equivalent to approximately €485 to €631 per tonne, with developers including ACME CleanTech Solutions, NTPC Renewable Energy Solutions, Jakson Green, Oriana Power, SCC Infrastructure, and Suryam International among the winners.
Export offtake agreements for green ammonia are also progressing, with Indian developers engaged in negotiations with multiple international offtakers. ACME, Greenko, Ocior Energy, Hygenco, and Sembcorp are in talks with companies such as IHI Corporation of Japan, Yara, Uniper, BASF, RWE, Kyushu Electric Power, and Ameropa for an estimated 1.9 million TPA of export capacity. These developments are indicative of India’s growing competitiveness in global green ammonia trade.
Additionally, it was highlighted that India’s price discovery process is gradually moving towards the government’s target of $2 per kg for green hydrogen. As per awarded projects, IOCL’s Panipat Refinery contract went to L&T Energy Green Tech at ₹397/kg (including GST), while HPCL’s Visakhapatnam Refinery and BPCL’s Bina Refinery were awarded to Ocior Energy at approximately ₹328/kg (excluding GST). These prices are considered globally competitive and are expected to decline further as larger projects and government incentives under the SIGHT scheme take effect.
On the manufacturing side, the SIGHT scheme for electrolysers has allocated ₹4,800 crore in incentives for 3,000 MW of capacity across two tranches. Companies such as Reliance, Greenko, Jindal India, L&T, Ohmium, Adani, and Waaree were among those awarded capacities.
India’s export potential is strengthened by its 6,100-kilometre coastline, 13 deepwater ports, and over 200 non-major ports, several of which already have LNG and liquid cargo infrastructure.
Furthermore, ports such as Kandla, Paradip, and Tuticorin have been identified as Green Hydrogen Hubs. Indian developers have announced over 9 MMTPA of green ammonia production capacities, primarily targeting exports out of which 2 MMTPA of green ammonia export offtake is already at advanced negotiation stages.
India’s large domestic hydrogen market, currently around 7 million tonnes per annum, is projected to grow at 6.5 percent annually to 16 million tonnes by 2040. India’s renewable energy sector, with competitive solar and wind generation tariffs between ₹2.4 and ₹4.0 per kWh and a robust grid transmission capacity of 450 GW, supports the green hydrogen transition.
The webinar additionally outlined a series of proposed actions for India–Belgium collaboration, including the need for the establishment of an India–Belgium Green Hydrogen Working Group and sharing of best practices on certification, safety codes, and guarantees of origin.
Emphasis was also laid on initiating joint programmes between VITO, IMEC, IITs, TERI, and CSIR, and creation of a Centre of Excellence on Hydrogen Technologies.
Other proposals include facilitating business partnerships between Belgian technology providers and Indian developers, leveraging Belgium’s ports such as Antwerp-Bruges for hydrogen exports, and organising annual dialogues and training programmes to strengthen capacity building.
Supported by incentives, cost competitiveness, and international partnerships, India’s green hydrogen sector continues to progress toward becoming a major global contributor to clean energy trade.
Image Source: Hitachi Energy
