World Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day 2026 Marked by MNRE

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) marked World Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day on 8 October 2026 with an event at Atal Akshay Urja Bhawan in New Delhi. More than 100 government officials, industry representatives, researchers and subject experts took part, and the day stayed on a single question: what standards and safeguards India needs in place before hydrogen comes into wide use.

Two panels, on standards and on safety

The programme was built around two panel discussions, the first on standards for hydrogen and the second on safety at hydrogen facilities. Speakers came from the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO), the Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) and other research and industry organisations. Three demands ran through both sessions: written standards covering how the gas is produced, stored, moved and used; stronger testing arrangements and training so that workers can handle it safely; and closer coordination between government agencies, industry and experts.

A gap assessment released

A report titled 'India's Hydrogen Standards: Gap Assessment and Preliminary Action Framework', prepared in association with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), was released at the event. It takes stock of the hydrogen standards the country already has, marks the areas that still need attention and sets out the steps required to close those gaps.

Who spoke

Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, was the chief guest at the valedictory session. Akash Tripathi, Managing Director of the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), delivered the special address, and Mohammad Rihan, Director General of the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), also addressed the gathering. Abhay Bakre, Mission Director of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, gave the opening remarks, and Sujit Pillai, a Scientist F in the ministry, the vote of thanks.

The National Green Hydrogen Mission behind it

The event sits inside the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which the government approved in January 2023 with an outlay of 19,744 crore rupees. The mission is meant to turn India into a global hub for making, using and exporting green hydrogen and the products derived from it, and it carries a target of 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen production a year by 2030. Its money is spread across production, the manufacture of equipment, pilot projects, research and training. The standards work discussed at the event is the groundwork that this build-out needs, since hydrogen is a light, highly flammable gas and the rules for handling it have to be settled before plants, pipelines and refuelling points multiply.