India's manufacturing sector is a tremendous source of strength, and the country’s MSME base is a key contributor to this. Several areas, such as metalworks and processing, have strong manufacturing capabilities. However, to unlock its full potential, it is necessary to focus on partnerships with vendors and suppliers to develop their capabilities effectively. There are also opportunities for new manufacturing ecosystems, such as for electrolyser components, which must be developed to support the growth of the green hydrogen sector.
The development of electrolyser component manufacturing should be a central focus, along with producing complete electrolysers in tandem. This approach helps to ensure that manufacturing capabilities are built together with the demands of the assembly line, and the essential supporting components are available to scale-up production.
There are some significant technical challenges that must be addressed, such as membrane manufacturing, membrane and electrode assembly and nickel plated component manufacturing. Although the manufacturing capability exists, unlocking demand for the components needs to happen. One way to accomplish this is to focus on developing adjacent industries that require these components and membranes.
R&D must play a crucial role in addressing gaps in the market, such as membrane development. It is also important to bring down costs and look at material substitution avenues through value engineering and focusing on circularity. R&D can contribute to optimising manufacturing processes that reduce the cost of producing components, thereby making it possible to achieve green hydrogen's widespread adoption.
