India is gearing up to become the world’s lowest-cost producer of green hydrogen, aiming to slash production costs from USD 4.5 per kg to USD 1 per kg by 2030, former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.
Addressing the National Green Economy Conclave organised by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Kant said that achieving low-cost green hydrogen would transform sectors such as steel, fertilisers, mobility and heavy transport. “If we crack the USD 1 per kg milestone, India will become the world’s green energy powerhouse,” he asserted.
Kant noted that the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the rapid growth of solar capacity and falling renewable energy tariffs are converging to make this target achievable. He described green hydrogen as a “defining pillar” of India’s long-term growth strategy and a key to global leadership in clean manufacturing and deep decarbonisation.
According to him, the shift will also spur new opportunities for Indian entrepreneurs. “A circular economy will unlock massive opportunities for startups,” he said, urging young innovators to pursue advances in R&D, new materials, recycling technologies and disruptive green solutions.
Kant emphasised that India’s innovation ecosystem—powered by digital infrastructure, geospatial tools and AI—will be central to accelerating the green transition. At a broader economic level, he said India’s green transformation could be game-changing, projecting the creation of 48 million jobs, USD 4 trillion in investments and a USD 1.4 trillion market, as estimated in a CEEW report.
“This is not a marginal reform; it is a massive new economic opportunity for India’s youth,” he said, calling it the most significant development opening since the 1991 reforms.
Kant also warned that India must avoid replicating the West’s fossil-fuel-driven growth pattern. “The Western world built cities for cars, not for people. India must not replicate that model,” he cautioned, stressing that circularity, the bioeconomy and green urban design must guide India’s development if it aims to lead globally in sustainable growth.
He added that India’s stage of development offers a unique advantage: with half the country yet to be built and nearly 500 million people expected to move to cities in the coming decades, India has a “once-in-history” opportunity to create urban centres that are green, inclusive and oriented around public transport.
Kant said India’s growth model must embed sustainability across infrastructure, mobility, energy and manufacturing. “If we get this right, India will not only grow fast but grow responsibly, setting a benchmark for the world,” he concluded.
Speaking via video message, Jayant Sinha, President of Everstone Group & Eversource Capital and former Union Minister of State, said India’s green transition is “fundamentally net positive,” capable of generating millions of jobs, boosting growth, improving public health and enhancing national security by shifting to domestic energy sources.
Abhishek Jain, Director of Green Economy and Impact Innovations at CEEW, told ANI that India currently imports 87 per cent of its crude oil—dependence that can fall to zero through electric mobility, solar power and next-generation biofuels. He noted that India imports all of its lithium, nickel and cobalt and 93 per cent of its copper ore, all of which could become zero-import streams through a circular economy.
Jain added that India remains heavily dependent on fertiliser imports, with all potash and 88 per cent of urea either directly or indirectly imported.
The CEEW’s Green Economy study identifies 36 opportunities across the energy transition, circular economy, bioeconomy and nature-based solutions, assessing their potential for jobs, markets and investment by 2047 in line with the Viksit Bharat vision. These include circular-economy initiatives such as lithium-ion battery recycling, e-waste and plastic recycling, and the reuse of used cooking oil, alongside a range of bioeconomy solutions.
