State-owned Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is set to finalise a tender for production and supply of 7,24,000 tonne of green ammonia annually across 13 fertilizer plants under strategic interventions for green hydrogen transition scheme.
Ammonia, an essential component in urea and other nitrogen-based fertilizers, is currently produced using fossil fuels, leading to high greenhouse gas emissions. SECI’s tender leverages renewable energy to produce green hydrogen and ammonia, promoting low-emission, domestic fertilizer production.
SECI will anchor demand aggregation and sign long-term offtake agreements providing producers with market certainty over a 10-year contract period. The tender was issued on June 7, 2024 and the last date for bid submission is June 26, 2025.
To ensure financial viability, the government is offering financial incentives under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, with Production Linked Incentives (PLI) of ₹8.82/kg, ₹7.06/kg, and ₹5.30/kg for the first three years respectively- amounting to a total support of ₹1,533.4 crore.
A robust Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) is also committed by the Centre to de-risk potential payment delays from fertilizer companies.
India consumes approximately 17-19 million tonne of ammonia annually, with more than 50 per cent of its hydrogen requirement used in fertilizer production.
However, most of this is derived from imported natural gas. SECI’s initiative is expected to drastically cut this dependence, reduce exposure to global gas price fluctuations, and lower the trade deficit. Producing green hydrogen emits less than 2 kg of CO₂ per kilogram, compared to up to 12 kg CO₂ from conventional grey hydrogen.