Ashok Leyland, India’s second largest commercial vehicle maker, believes hydrogen-powered CVs will take several years to become mainstream in India, with high infrastructure costs and limited ecosystem readiness continuing to slow large-scale adoption.
Speaking during a post-earnings media call, Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja said hydrogen remains a promising technology for long-distance transportation but is still commercially expensive even in developed markets. “Hydrogen is a good alternative… but it is still a very expensive alternative,” Hinduja said.
India’s commercial vehicle industry has increasingly been exploring multiple clean-fuel technologies, including electric, LNG, CNG, hydrogen internal combustion engines and hydrogen fuel cells, as the sector moves toward lower-emission mobility solutions.
However, Ashok Leyland said electric vehicles and other alternate fuels are likely to gain scale faster than hydrogen in India over the near term.
“Even when you look at some of the more mature markets, Europe, US, hydrogen is going to still take time to really stabilise as an alternative,” Hinduja said. “For India, at least we do not see it becoming a mainstay for quite a few years.”
The company said one of the biggest challenges remains the cost of building hydrogen production, transportation and refuelling infrastructure.
“We definitely feel setting up the infrastructure for it is a lot more expensive than what we believe would be appropriate for this market,” Hinduja said.
Despite the slow adoption outlook, Ashok Leyland said it continues to invest in hydrogen vehicle development to prepare for long-term opportunities in heavy-duty transportation.
Managing Director and CEO Shenu Agarwal said the company is currently running multiple pilot programmes involving hydrogen-powered trucks and buses.
“As an OEM, what our responsibility is right now, that since we see a long-term future in hydrogen in India for long haul, we really want to develop and mature the technology around hydrogen when it comes to trucks and buses,” Agarwal said.
The company is currently testing hydrogen trucks in India and operating hydrogen buses in partnership with state-owned power producer NTPC.
Ashok Leyland also said it is working with government agencies and ecosystem partners to support hydrogen infrastructure development and technology validation.
Industry experts say hydrogen is likely to play a larger role in long-haul trucking, mining and heavy commercial transportation where battery-electric solutions face payload and charging limitations. However, high green hydrogen production costs and lack of refuelling infrastructure continue to remain major barriers globally.
Several Indian commercial vehicle manufacturers, including Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, are currently testing hydrogen-powered trucks and buses under pilot projects supported by the Indian government’s National Green Hydrogen Mission.