India’s future green hydrogen and
green
ammonia
production
is
projected to need as much as 70.5
gigawatt (GW) of green electricity
by 2031-32, enough to power over a
crore household for a month,
prompting the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy to explore ways
to ensure round-the-clock supply of
green power to support the Green
Hydrogen Mission.
Hydrogen or ammonia is catego-
rised as ‘green’ only if its produc-
tion is powered via renewable
energy (RE), implying the entire
electricity requirement of 70.5 GW
will have to be met through RE for
it to be considered green. While this
is lower than the required 125 GW
of RE projected during the launch
of the National Green Hydrogen
Mission (NGHM), it is still daunt-
ing enough to have compelled the
Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy
to
reassess
and
find
round-the-clock green power while
at the same time ensuring grid
stability.
To put this into context, 70.5 GW
electricity could power more than
one crore households in India for a
month, given that the average power
consumption for a house range from
150-300 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per
month. Besides, India’s peak power
demand alone is expected to hit 388
GW by 2031-32, for which the
country would need a power genera-
tion capacity of 997 GW. Of this
997 GW, electricity from clean
sources is expected to contribute
500 GW.
State-owned
Nuclear
Power
Corporation of India (NPCIL), the
only enterprise that builds and oper-
ates nuclear power plants in India,
plans to invest at least Rs 6.6 lakh
crore to build 50 gigawatts (GW)
nuclear power capacity, which is
half of the projected 100 GW capac-
ity aimed by 2047. In the near term,
the public sector enterprise under
the Department of Atomic Energy
has plans to invest at least Rs 2.7
lakh crore to build 22 GW worth
capacity by 2032.
The chairman and managing direc-
tor of NPCIL said the company’s
workforce
of
11,000
will
be
increased manifold in the coming
years, and recruitment for 2,000
posts
are
currently
underway.
Pathak called upon India’s youth to
join NPCIL to contribute to the
National Nuclear Energy Mission,
announced in the Union Budget this
year.
Pathak said due to the sensitivity
and safety parameters involving
nuclear projects, land acquisition
and pre-project activities can take
as long as five years. Hence, going
forward, NPCIL said it will to build
nuclear power hubs with large
number of reactors at a single site,
in an effort to also bring down cost.
The mainstay of India’s nuclear
power programme will be the indig-
enous 700 MW pressurised heavy
water reactors (PHWRs), Pathak
said, making the mission the ‘truest
example of Atmanirbhar Bharat’.
India is pursuing a unique, sequen-
tial
three-stage
nuclear
power
programme, he added, which essen-
tially means that initially Uranium
will be used as a primary fuel, and
eventually, NPCIL will move to
using Thorium.
N ews
INDIA'S UPCOMING GREEN HYDROGEN HUBS WILL BE HUNGRY
FOR POWER, PROMPTING CALLS TO EXPLORE 24X7 GREEN ELECTRICITY
NPCIL, SOLE OPERATOR OF INDIA'S NUCLEAR PLANTS, SAYS
'RENAISSANCE' UNDERWAY IN JOURNEY TO 50 GW CAPACITY
12 | June 2025 | www.industrialoutlook.in