Hydrogen is key to decarbonising hard-to-abate industries where electrification has a limited role to play. With a cleaner carbon footprint and versatility with existing industrial processes, hydrogen can be used as a fuel in these energy-intensive industries. As the hydrogen industry is still in its initial phases many researchers have estimated its economic impacts. Most of the current research is focused on the employment market. This study evaluates the economic impact of the emerging green hydrogen industry in India both in terms of employment creation and contribution to GDP growth. The study also
quantifies the savings in imports caused by switching from fossil fuel to green hydrogen in different industries. The main objective of this study is to verify the projections of the National Green Hydrogen Mission(NGHM) of India which aims to produce 5 million metric tons (MMT) of hydrogen per annum by 2030. Leontief’s input-output model is used to evaluate the economic impacts.

The study revealed that there would be an employment creation of 410570 FTE jobs and 4838 M USD contribution to GDP for every gigawatt(GW) scale hydrogen plant installed. Additionally, there would also be import savings of around 1 B USD per annum for a GW-scale plant. It is found that the amount of imports of machinery and equipment significantly affects the impact indicators. If half of the machinery and equipment is imported the contribution to GDP is reduced by 50% whereas the employment creation and GHG emissions are reduced by 30% when compared to the all the machinery is domestically manufactured scenario. The projections of India’s NGHM are evaluated and found comparable with those of the government projections. Overall, the establishment of the green hydrogen industry in India is found to have a positive impact on the economy by significantly boosting the national GDP and employment creation.