India Plans to Deploy Over 1,000 Hydrogen Buses and Trucks by 2030

As India pursues a multi-fuel strategy to decarbonize the transport sector, the country is expected to have over 1,000 hydrogen-powered trucks and buses on its roads by the end of this decade, a senior government official said.

“Almost 50 trucks and buses should be running this year. And from next year onwards, we will see more scale-up,” said Abhay Bakre, Mission Director for the Government's Green Hydrogen Mission.

“I hope by 2030, more than 1,000 trucks or buses will be plying and used commercially in the country. That is what we are expecting,” Bakre said at the World Environment Day event organized by SIAM.

Medium and heavy commercial vehicles primarily operate in mid-mile and long-haul segments and are among the highest contributors to transport emissions. These vehicles require high payload and volume capacities, making battery-electric options less feasible, given the weight and space consumed by large battery packs.

The industry and government believe hydrogen fuel offers a clean and efficient alternative for decarbonizing long-distance truck and bus applications in the long term, thanks to its higher energy density and lighter storage requirements compared to batteries.

Hydrogen, when generated from renewable sources, becomes a zero-emission fuel, making it an ideal solution for decarbonizing sectors like long-haul trucking and heavy-duty transport.

In 2023, the government launched the National Green Hydrogen Mission to boost the production, utilization, and export of green hydrogen. The mission targets green hydrogen production capacity of at least 5 MMTPA by 2030 and 60–100 GW of electrolyser installations, with a budgetary outlay of Rs 19,744 crore until 2029–2030.

The government also has a scheme under the National Green Hydrogen Mission to support the development of technologies to use green hydrogen as a fuel in buses, trucks, and four-wheelers, based on fuel cell-based propulsion technology or internal combustion engine-based propulsion technology.

Hydrogen ICEs are currently expected to see easier and faster adoption compared to hydrogen fuel cells, due to factors such as lower transition barriers and easier integration into existing manufacturing and service ecosystems.

Several Indian automakers such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, and Olectra Greentech are already developing or testing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Pilot projects supported by oil marketing companies like Reliance Industries, BPCL, and HPCL are expected to facilitate early deployment by providing refueling infrastructure at key freight corridors.

Last year, Ashok Leyland and Reliance Industries introduced India’s first hydrogen ICE-powered heavy-duty truck, while Tata Motors delivered the first hydrogen fuel cell-powered buses to Indian Oil Corporation.