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Project Decarbonising India’s chemicals industry
India’s chemicals sector sits at the heart of the country’s industrial growth, food security and clean energy transition. Fertilisers dominate emissions from the sector, with ammonia production accounting for the bulk of the sector’s climate impact. Unlike other high-volume chemicals, ammonia doesn’t require a carbon feedstock. This makes it one of the few chemicals we could decarbonise today. But achieving this requires coordinated action across policy, industry and civil society.
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Why is it important?
83%
Around 83 per cent of India’s ammonia consumption goes to fertilisers, making it the single largest decarbonisation lever in the chemicals sector
$20bn
India’s fertiliser subsidy bill frequently exceeds US$20 billion per year, driven by imports of fossil fuel-based ammonia
18Mt
India consumes 18 million tonnes of ammonia annually, almost all produced using fossil fuels
3-5Mt
India could produce 3-5 million tonnes of green ammonia by 2030, significantly cutting emissions and easing subsidy pressure
The Challenges
- Ammonia and fertiliser production rely almost entirely on fossil-derived hydrogen. The sector remains locked into high-carbon production. Early switching incentives are limited.
- Fertiliser subsidies are fiscally large and politically sensitive, particularly for urea. This constrains rapid reform even as subsidy bills balloon due to volatile global energy prices.
- Civil society, industry and policymakers remain poorly aligned on chemical sector decarbonisation. A shared strategy and coordinated advocacy are needed to drive change.
- Green ammonia requires upfront investment in electrolysers, renewable energy, storage and transport infrastructure. Uncertainty over long-term price signals creates barriers to investment.
- Early policy signals like the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) green ammonia auction are promising, but need follow-through and scaling frameworks to unlock sustained demand. Most action has focused on hydrogen supply rather than downstream adoption in chemicals.
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Ways to get involved
Are you working to align policy, industry and civil society on chemical sector decarbonisation? We’re bringing together diverse stakeholders to move from fragmented efforts to a shared strategy, starting with green ammonia in fertilisers.
Contact Sakshi for more.
Interested in scaling early use cases and informing policy? We’re working with government institutions and industry to identify barriers, support learning from green ammonia tenders, and scale pilots in non-urea fertilisers.
Contact Nandan for more.
Do you work on building the evidence base for green ammonia adoption? We commission India-specific research on technical and economic feasibility, infrastructure needs and policy design to support credible advocacy.
Contact Nandan for more.
