CII Seeks Budget 2026 Push for Green Hydrogen Mandates and Incentives

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has called on the government to use the Union Budget 2026 as a platform to accelerate India’s green hydrogen ecosystem by introducing clear mandates and targeted incentives. According to CII, strong policy direction is essential to unlock demand and move green hydrogen from pilot stages to large-scale commercial adoption.

CII highlighted that while India has announced ambitious goals under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, demand creation remains a key challenge due to high production costs and limited offtake certainty. The industry body suggested that mandatory green hydrogen usage in select sectors such as refining, fertilisers, steel, and heavy transport could help create a stable market and encourage private investment.

In addition to mandates, CII recommended fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, including production-linked support, viability gap funding, and long-term policy clarity. These measures, it said, would help reduce cost gaps between green hydrogen and conventional fuels, making clean hydrogen more competitive for industrial users.

The industry body also emphasised the need for a predictable regulatory framework covering transmission, storage, and certification of green hydrogen. Clear standards and streamlined approvals would reduce risks for developers and help integrate green hydrogen into India’s broader energy transition strategy.

Overall, CII’s pre-budget recommendations position green hydrogen as a strategic pillar for India’s decarbonisation efforts, industrial competitiveness, and energy security, urging the government to send strong policy signals through Budget 2026 to catalyse growth in this emerging sector.

Industry-body advocacy for hydrogen mandates typically shapes the specific incentive design that ends up in the budget, and offtake mandates change the demand-side certainty developers need to underwrite production capacity. Our energy-transition and market-intelligence teams help clients evaluate hydrogen investment cases across mandate and incentive scenarios.