Former Niti Ayog CEO says low-cost green hydrogen and circular economy could unlock 48 million jobs and USD 4 trillion in investments

India is working to become the world’s lowest-cost producer of green hydrogen by 2030, with a target to bring production costs down from the current USD 4.5 per kg to USD 1 per kg, former Niti Aayog chief executive Amitabh Kant said on Wednesday.

He was speaking at the National Green Economy Conclave organised by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). Kant said that a decisive breakthrough in low-cost green hydrogen would reshape energy-intensive sectors such as steel, fertilisers, mobility and heavy transport, and position India as a global green energy hub.

Kant linked this ambition to the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the rapid expansion of solar capacity and steadily falling renewable energy tariffs and described green hydrogen as a defining pillar of India’s long-term development strategy, offering a route to clean manufacturing and deep decarbonisation.

Jobs, Investments And Market Opportunity
Drawing on estimates from a CEEW study, Kant said the shift to a green economy could create 48 million jobs, mobilise USD 4 trillion in investments and open up a USD 1.4 trillion market by 2047. He termed the green transition the country’s biggest development opening since the 1991 economic reforms.

He also underlined that the transition would generate new avenues for entrepreneurship, noting that a circular economy approach could unlock major opportunities for start-ups in new materials, recycling technologies and green-economy solutions. Digital public infrastructure, geospatial tools and artificial intelligence, he said, would act as key enablers in accelerating this transformation.

Kant argued that India must adopt a growth pathway different from that of Western economies, integrating sustainability, bioeconomy and circularity into urban design, mobility and infrastructure. With half of India yet to be built and nearly 500 million people expected to urbanise in the coming decades, he said there was a rare chance to design cities that are green, inclusive and oriented towards public transport.