Green Hydrogen Certification Portal
Why in News?
The Green Hydrogen Certification Portal of India (GHCI) is in the news because the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Pralhad Joshi, officially launched the platform on 17 June 2026.
Framework & Purpose
- Nodal Ministry: Developed and managed directly by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
- Primary Objective: Provides a transparent, end-to-end Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) platform to authenticate that hydrogen is produced through clean energy pathways.
- Combating Greenwashing: Eradicates misleading or false eco-friendly claims by tracking real-time carbon intensity throughout production cycles.
- Global Trade Integration: Builds investor confidence and helps domestic producers align with strict international low-carbon fuel standards for export.
The Verification & Certification Metric
- Strict Emission Standard: To qualify for a certificate via the portal, the average greenhouse gas emissions must not exceed 2 kg CO2 equivalent per kg of hydrogen.
- Boundaries for Calculation: The portal computes emissions from on-site water treatment, electricity, feedstock, purification, compression, and local storage. It excludes civil construction and external transport.
- Authorized Gatekeepers: All data submitted online must undergo third-party auditing from a Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Accredited Carbon Verification (ACV) Agency.
- Unique Identification: Every 100 kg of certified green hydrogen receives a unique blockchain-ready ID marking its location, production year, and emission data.
Dual-Tier Digital Certificates
- Provisional Certificates: Auto-generated through the portal on a voluntary monthly basis (valid for 1 to 11 months) based on initial self-submitted factory metrics.
- Final Certificates: Issued annually by July 31st after mandatory on-site physical audits by ACVs. This final certificate is compulsory for producers seeking government subsidies or participating in domestic commerce.
- Trade Functionality: While the certificates serve as non-tradeable origin labels on their own, they allow hard-to-abate sectors to earn and trade carbon offsets under India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS).
Broader Mission Updates & Milestones
- Financial Outlay: The portal tracks and anchors activities driven by the ₹19,744 crore National Green Hydrogen Mission.
- Production Targets: Tailored to help achieve 5 MMT of green hydrogen production capacity and add 125 GW of dedicated renewable energy capacity by 2030.
- SIGHT Performance: Under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) programme, incentives have already been granted for 8,62,000 MTPA of hydrogen capacity.
- Commercial Absorption: Contracts have been signed to deliver 6.7 lakh MTPA of Green Ammonia to 11 fertilizer plants, alongside 30,000 MTPA of green hydrogen to public refineries (IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, and NRL).
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