New Delhi – India has put a number on green hydrogen. Under the certification scheme, hydrogen qualifies at 2 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram produced, averaged across twelve months.
The Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme of India applies to electrolysis and biomass conversion pathways. In February 2026 the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy extended the framework downstream, setting lifecycle thresholds of 0.38 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram for green ammonia and 0.44 for green methanol.
The averaging window is the design choice
Measuring over twelve months rather than hour by hour matters enormously. A producer can draw grid power at night, when generation is largely coal, and offset it against surplus renewable output at midday.
Annual averaging makes projects financeable, because requiring hourly matching would force either storage or curtailed operation. It also means certified green hydrogen may be produced partly from coal-fired electricity at certain hours. Both statements are true, and buyers in markets moving toward hourly matching will ask.
Who must certify
Certification is mandatory where a producer receives government incentives, sells domestically, benefits from concessions, or supplies both domestic and export markets. Producers exporting exclusively without incentives need not certify under the Indian scheme, but must report against the importing country standard.
That carve-out is where friction will appear, because European rules are stricter and an Indian certificate will not automatically satisfy them.
Water entered the calculation
In June 2026 the ministry issued final guidelines for quantifying emissions from offsite water drawal and treatment. Electrolysis consumes substantial demineralised water, and in water-stressed regions that water may be desalinated or pumped long distances, both energy intensive.
Counting those emissions is methodologically correct and rare. Most hydrogen standards internationally ignore water entirely.
Source: Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme of India and subsequent MNRE standards for green ammonia, green methanol and water-related emissions.
