How India Can Enhance Global Energy Security Through Green Hydrogen
India’s ability to produce affordable green molecules positions it not only as a domestic decarbonization leader, but also as a potential anchor of future global clean energy trade.
India stands at the cusp of a historic opportunity in green hydrogen, one that can simultaneously transform its domestic industrial base and strengthen global energy security. For decades, India’s energy narrative has been defined by scarcity, import dependence, and exposure to volatile global fuel markets. The green hydrogen transition offers a chance to decisively shift this trajectory, from an energy importer to a reliable supplier of clean energy molecules.
Backed by abundant low-cost renewable electricity, a supportive policy framework, and growing industrial commitment, India is emerging as one of the world’s most cost-competitive producers of green hydrogen and its derivatives. What once appeared aspirational is now becoming a near-term reality. India’s ability to produce affordable green molecules positions it not only as a domestic decarbonization leader, but also as a potential anchor of future global clean energy supply chains.
Even the global market corrections are signaling a realistic demand. A 13.5 million ton import market in the EU and East Asia may not materialize by 2030 as anticipated, but a meaningful import market is still developing to target. According to the recent report, Unlocking India’s Green Hydrogen Exports: Pathways, Markets, and Trade Catalysts, released by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and the Indian Ports Association, with technical support from RMI, the new estimated demand from these markets may range between 3.4 and 6 million tons per year by 2030.
Price discoveries in India have caught global attention
Until recently, global green hydrogen markets were marked by uncertainty, undermining investors’ confidence. However, over the past few months, clear policy signals from India have begun to shift market expectations materially. This shift is most visible in the recent outcomes of the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI’s) green ammonia tender.
SECI’s tender, which aggregated demand from 13 fertilizer units across the country, resulted in a record low discovered price of INR 49.75 per kilogram of green ammonia, equivalent to approximately US$572 per ton. On average, the winning bid prices are 35 to 50 percent lower than the previous international benchmark of around US$1,153 per ton observed under the H2Global mechanism. While differences in tender design limit direct comparability, the magnitude of the price reduction clearly signals rapid cost convergence.
Similar price discovery is now emerging beyond the fertilizer sector. HPCL’s tender for the supply of 5 kilotons per year of green hydrogen to its Visakhapatnam refinery resulted in a price of INR 328 per kilogram (US$3.6/kg). IOCL’s subsequent tender for 10 kilotons per year at its Panipat refinery discovered a price of INR 397 per kilogram (US$4.38/kg), inclusive of the Goods and Services Tax.
Taken together, these outcomes indicate that domestic demand is moving from pilots to commercial uptake, and that the cost premium between green and conventional ammonia and hydrogen is narrowing rapidly. However, full parity will require significantly larger and more sustained volumes. This reinforces the need for India’s domestic market creation efforts to be complemented by export-oriented demand and international trade corridors that can unlock scale.
Scale follows when domestic demand and exports rise together
Export-led scale offers India its strongest near-term pathway to unlock investment, secure long-term offtake, and translate early cost advantages into a durable global market share. A comparative analysis of delivered green ammonia costs to the Port of Rotterdam highlights India’s competitiveness. At an estimated delivered cost of US$794 per ton, India compares favorably with Brazil at US$729 per ton and Chile at US$822 per ton. Despite longer shipping distances, India’s low production costs help offset logistics penalties and preserve its competitive position.
India’s strength is further anchored in its large and diversified industrial base. The SECI tenders have provided an important boost to domestic demand, but similar mechanisms must now extend to other sectors such as chemicals and refining. A dual-track strategy that scales domestic adoption while opening export corridors can create a virtuous cycle, where rising volumes drive down costs, improve reliability, and attract further investment.
By supplying credible volumes of green ammonia and hydrogen, India can help rebalance global energy flows and reduce dependence on a narrow set of fossil-fuel-based supply routes. For Europe and East Asia, diversification of clean energy supply is not only a decarbonization imperative, but also a strategic response to geopolitical uncertainty. India’s ability to play this role will depend on how effectively it connects production hubs with international markets.
By supplying credible volumes of green ammonia and hydrogen, India can help rebalance global energy flows and reduce dependence on a narrow set of fossil-fuel-based supply routes.
Turning the cost advantage into cargo
As global import demand becomes more selective, competition among exporters is intensifying. Cost competitiveness alone will not secure offtake. Reliability, standards alignment, and partnership depth will increasingly determine success. For India to convert its cost advantage into trade flows, four enablers are critical.
First, ports must develop hydrogen-ready common infrastructure at ports, to move projects from contracts to cargo. Second, standards and certification frameworks must align with requirements in key import markets across Europe and East Asia. Third, strategic partnerships should facilitate technology transfer, long-term offtake commitments, and co-investment, bringing domestic and international stakeholders together to secure execution certainty. Finally, financing mechanisms must de-risk early cargoes through tools such as Contracts for Difference, export credit agencies, and blended finance.
Together, these enablers lower delivered costs, improve bankability, and enable domestic substitution and exports to scale in parallel. They form the foundation for future India–EU and India–East Asia green hydrogen corridors, where competitive molecules can reliably become bankable cargo.
The way forward
India has a clear head start, but the translation of cost advantage into sustained trade flows will be decided at the ports. Ports already anchor major domestic clusters in refining, chemicals, and fertilizers, while also serving as gateways to international markets. These clusters are natural building blocks for a corridor-based export strategy that links concentrated production with predictable global demand.
The next phase should focus on organizing development around MNRE-recognized Green Hydrogen Hubs, including Deendayal Port, V.O. Chidambaranar Port, and Paradip Port. Connecting these hubs to export corridors serving Europe and East Asia can provide the scale and certainty required for early cargoes. At the same time, port-led ecosystems will strengthen domestic uptake by improving reliability, reducing costs, and enabling industry to transition more competitively.
This clusters-and-corridors approach allows exports to drive scale while domestic demand builds resilience, positioning India to convert its green hydrogen cost advantage into real cargo, long-term market leadership, and a more secure global energy system.
Our upcoming article will explore in depth how a corridor-based approach can help identify, access, and aggregate demand in the global green hydrogen market. By creating clearer and more credible demand signals, corridors can enable the scale needed to improve project viability and accelerate investment within domestic production and consumption clusters.
The article will also underline why a combined focus on clusters and corridors is critical for India. Together, they provide a structured way to systemize investments across production, infrastructure, and offtake, while unlocking strategic opportunities for exports, industrial decarbonization, and long-term competitiveness in emerging global green hydrogen markets.