Hydrogen is called the fuel of tomorrow – but is India ready today ?

In the remote valleys of Ladakh, five hydrogen buses are quietly running as part of India’s highest-altitude hydrogen transport experiment. These buses mark India’s first-ever deployment of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for public transport, a step forward in the country’s clean energy ambitions.

The morning of March 4, 2025, dawned like any other in Poznan, Poland. Children waited at bus stops, workers headed to offices, and 25 state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell buses prepared for their daily routes. By noon, every single bus had broken down simultaneously. The culprit? Hydrogen fuel that was 0.03% impure – a microscopic contamination that paralyzed an entire city’s transport system.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. In South Korea, over 1,000 hydrogen vehicles failed safety inspections due to gas leaks. Solaris, Europe’s leading hydrogen bus manufacturer with a near-perfect track record, watched helplessly as their reputation crumbled in real-time.

Yet, 5,000 kilometers away in New Delhi, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Pralhad Joshi were flagging off India’s first hydrogen truck trials with fanfare, declaring hydrogen as the “fuel of the future”.

The High-Stakes Reality Check

India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission promises a utopian transformation: 5 million tonnes of annual production, 600,000 new jobs, and ₹8 lakh crore in investments by 2030. The government has sanctioned 37 hydrogen vehicles across ten strategic routes, from the Greater Noida-Delhi-Agra corridor to the scenic Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi stretch.

But the economics tell a different story.

Green hydrogen in India currently costs between ₹397 and ₹560 per kilogram (approximately $4.60 to $6.70) making it up to six times more expensive to operate than battery-electric alternatives. When France’s Montpellier calculated the real costs, they discovered hydrogen buses would cost 0.95 euros per kilometer compared to just 0.15 euros for electric buses – leading to the immediate cancellation of a ₹275 crore hydrogen project.

The Leh Miracle: Success in Thin Air

At 11,562 feet above sea level, where the air is so thin that conventional vehicles struggle, NTPC’s hydrogen experiment is defying skeptics. Five hydrogen buses now navigate Leh’s treacherous terrain, powered by a 1.7 MW solar plant that produces 80 kg of green hydrogen daily.

“This represents the world’s highest-altitude hydrogen mobility project,” says NTPC officials, with each bus capable of traveling 300 kilometers on a 25-kilogram hydrogen fill. The project promises to cut 350 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually while generating 230 tonnes of pure oxygen – equivalent to planting 13,000 trees.

But even this success story comes with caveats. The buses operate in sub-zero temperatures with specialized fuel cells designed for rarefied atmosphere conditions – technology that costs significantly more than standard systems.

Tata Motors: Betting Big on Hydrogen

Tata Motors is staking its reputation on 16 hydrogen-powered trucks that will traverse India’s most challenging freight corridors over the next 24 months. These vehicles, equipped with both Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines (H2-ICE) and Fuel Cell (H2-FCEV) technologies, will be tested on routes including Mumbai-Pune, Delhi-NCR, and Jamshedpur-Kalinganagar.

The company’s Executive Director Girish Wagh calls it “pioneering the transition to clean, zero-emission energy for long-haul transportation”. But industry insiders reveal a more complex picture.

The trucks can achieve a 500-kilometer range with fast refueling capabilities, but the infrastructure challenge remains daunting. India needs at least 50 hydrogen refueling stations by 2027, each costing $2-3 million, to support just 1,000 hydrogen trucks annually. Currently, the country has barely established its first few stations.

The Hidden Costs of Clean Dreams

What the government doesn’t advertise is the staggering cost gap that threatens the entire mission. Current green hydrogen production in India ranges from $4.84 to $6.11 per kilogram – approximately 40% higher than Australia, the cheapest producer among G20 nations.

Recent tenders by IOCL and HPCL revealed winning bids between $3.73 to $3.83 per kilogram, but some bids reached as high as $6 per kilogram. Even optimistic projections suggest costs will only fall to $2.40 per kilogram by 2030 – still substantially higher than conventional fuels.

The infrastructure challenges are equally formidable. Land availability, water scarcity, and lack of pipeline connections create bottlenecks that subsidies alone cannot solve. Green hydrogen production requires massive amounts of water – a resource India is already struggling to manage across many regions.

The Poznan incident exposed hydrogen’s Achilles heel: its extreme sensitivity to contamination. Hydrogen fuel must maintain 99.97% purity, meaning only 0.03% of other gases can be present. This leaves virtually no margin for error in production, storage, or distribution.

In South Korea, safety inspections revealed that 91% of hydrogen vehicle failures were due to gas leaks, particularly at pressure-resistant containers. The high-pressure storage systems (350-700 bar) create additional safety complexities that don’t exist with conventional fuels.

The Make-or-Break Moment

Industry experts acknowledge that India’s hydrogen ambitions are moving “from hype to a more realistic outlook”. The government’s ₹19,744 crore investment is substantial, but it pales compared to the estimated ₹8 lakh crore needed for full-scale deployment.

State-level incentives vary wildly – from just 1% discount in some states to 60% in others. This inconsistency creates an uneven playing field that could undermine national coordination efforts.

Mission Director Abhay Bakre remains optimistic, projecting green hydrogen costs will fall to $2 per kilogram by 2032. But with Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism beginning January 2026, India’s steel and heavy industries face immediate pressure to decarbonize – regardless of hydrogen’s readiness.

The pilots in Leh and across ten national routes will determine whether India’s hydrogen revolution becomes a transformative success or an expensive cautionary tale. while India’s hydrogen initiatives, like the project in Leh, showcase promise, they also underscore the complexities and challenges of scaling up hydrogen-powered transportation. The coming years will be crucial in determining whether these ventures can transition from pilot projects to widespread, sustainable solutions.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Success would position India as a global hydrogen leader, creating millions of jobs and reducing fossil fuel dependence. Failure would mean ₹20,000 crore in public funds spent on a technology that couldn’t compete with cheaper, more reliable alternatives.

As those five buses continue their daily routes through Ladakh’s pristine valleys, they carry more than passengers – they carry the hopes and fears of a nation betting its energy future on the world’s most abundant element. Whether that bet pays off may determine not just India’s path to net-zero emissions by 2070, but its entire approach to the clean energy transition.

The next 18 months of trials will reveal whether hydrogen is truly the fuel of the future or just another expensive detour on the road to sustainability.