Indian refineries plan green hydrogen projects worth Rs2 trillion

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India is currently planning green hydrogen initiatives worth around Indian rupees (Rs) 2 trillion ($23 billion), which include tenders for 42,000 tonne/year green hydrogen production by domestic oil refineries.

• Indian Oil eyes Dec ’27 start-up for 10,000 tonne/year Panipat hydrogen unit
• Two green ammonia projects start construction in Odisha
• Pilot projects initiated for hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles

“Tenders for the production of 42,000 tonne/year have been floated by the refineries while 128 more will be issued by state-owned refineries based on the outcome of those tenders,” Indian petroleum and natural gas minister Hardeep Singh Puri had said in a post on social media platform X on 6 June.

As part of the initiative, nine research and development (R&D) or demo plants are under construction and four have been commissioned by state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Gail India Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL), he added.

IOC, which is currently building India’s largest green hydrogen plant with a 10,000 tonne/year capacity at its Panipat Refinery Complex, expects to begin operations at the plant by December 2027, the company had said on 30 May.

Once operational, the plant will “replace fossil-derived hydrogen in refinery operations, resulting in substantial reduction in carbon emissions”, IOC added.

Separately, construction work has begun on two green hydrogen and green ammonia projects at the Gopalpur industrial park in the eastern Odisha state.

Hygenco Green Energies Ltd plans to invest Rs40 billion to build a 1.1 million tonne/year green ammonia plant at Gopalpur in three phases. It expects to complete the first phase by 2027.

UAE-based Ocior Energy, meanwhile, is building a 1 million tonne/year green hydrogen and green ammonia plant at the Gopalpur industrial park at a cost of Rs72 billion, Odisha’s state government announced.

A 200,000 tonne/year plant will be built in the first phase of operations by 2028, and a much bigger 800,000 tonne/year unit will be completed by 2030 in the eastern Indian state, according to Ocior’s website.

The Gopalpur Industrial Park will also house the ACME Green Hydrogen’s green ammonia project, as well as a 1,500 tonne/day green ammonia project being set up by the Avaada Group.

Separately, in a bid to grow India’s green hydrogen infrastructure, the central government also aims to decarbonize its transport sector through the introduction of hydrogen-powered trucks and buses.

The government expects to commission five pilot projects for running these hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2027, according to National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) director Abhay Bakre.

In March 2025, the government initiated these pilot projects with participation from private firms such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) as well as state-owned IOC, HPCL and BPCL, among others.

As part of the project, the pilot routes have been mapped out on 10 routes across the country with nine hydrogen refuelling stations.

The government plans to deploy around 1,000 hydrogen-powered trucks and buses by 2030, NGHM’s Bakre said.

The government expects to get “almost 50 trucks and buses running this year”, he said, adding that the numbers would increase further next year.

While automakers such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai have announced plans to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles, companies such as RIL, BPCL, IOC plan to create green hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

Launched in 2023, NGHM with an initial allocation of $2.4 billion, targets to have a minimum hydrogen production capacity of 5 million tonne/year by 2030.

Since 2023, the government has allocated 862,000 tonne/year production capacity to 19 companies.

($1 = Rs85.60)

Focus article by Priya Jestin