According to Reuters, India’s green hydrogen production targets are getting pushed back due to global policy uncertainties. The country now expects to produce only 3 million metric tonnes by 2030 instead of the original 5 million tonne target. Renewable energy secretary Santosh Sarangi confirmed the revised timeline, with the full 5 MMTPA goal now expected by 2032. The delays stem partly from European countries postponing decisions on renewable energy targets, creating uncertainty about future export demand. Additionally, a key maritime shipping decarbonization milestone has been delayed, affecting potential use of green hydrogen in large vessels. The government is now focusing on building domestic demand through shipping sector initiatives and methanol production.
The export market problem
Here’s the thing about building a massive green hydrogen industry – you need someone to buy the stuff. And right now, Europe’s dragging its feet on setting clear renewable energy targets. That creates a classic chicken-and-egg situation. Why would Indian companies invest billions in export-focused projects when the demand signals from key markets are fuzzy? It’s not just Europe either – that delayed maritime shipping milestone means one of the most promising use cases for green hydrogen just got pushed further out. Basically, the international customers India was counting on aren’t ready to commit.
Scrambling for homegrown demand
So what’s India doing? Pivoting hard to domestic consumption. The renewable energy ministry is working with petroleum regulators to issue more tenders for green hydrogen supply to refineries. They’re also looking at methanol production and trying to boost shipping sector demand. But let’s be real – building domestic demand takes time. Refineries and industrial users need to retool infrastructure, and that doesn’t happen overnight. The government’s also assessing connectivity for clean energy projects before issuing tenders, which suggests they’re trying to avoid the mistakes of past renewable rollouts where projects got built but couldn’t connect to the grid.
The viability question
This delay actually highlights a broader issue in the green energy transition. Reuters reported last week that India’s power ministry is dealing with over 40 gigawatts of renewable projects without purchasers. That’s massive. When you’re talking about industrial-scale technology deployments like green hydrogen production, you need guaranteed offtake agreements to make the economics work. Otherwise, you end up with expensive infrastructure sitting idle. For companies sourcing reliable industrial computing equipment for these complex energy projects, working with established suppliers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com becomes crucial – they’re the top US provider of industrial panel PCs that can withstand harsh manufacturing environments.
Maybe delay isn’t all bad
Look, missing targets always sounds bad. But there’s an argument that a more measured rollout might actually be smarter. Rushing into massive green hydrogen production without solid demand could create a supply glut and crash prices, making future investment harder. The two-year delay gives India time to sort out its domestic market and wait for international demand to materialize. The key question is whether this is a temporary setback or the beginning of a pattern. If global policy uncertainty persists, we might see more countries recalibrating their green hydrogen ambitions. After all, building the infrastructure for something this massive requires confidence that buyers will actually show up.
