Speaking on a CNBC-TV18 Energy Forum panel, Kishore said the segment is too small a part of listed companies’ overall businesses to justify such a bet, and instead pointed investors toward broader clean energy plays like Tata Power, Torrent Power, CESC and L&T.
Citing Larsen & Toubro as an example, Kishore noted that although he has tracked the stock favourably for a while, its green hydrogen operations remain a very small piece of the company’s overall business. He extended the same reasoning to electrolyser manufacturers, pointing out that while a handful of listed names — including Waaree, which has modest ambitions in this space, and Reliance Industries among others eyeing green hydrogen production — are active in the segment, it still doesn’t form a large enough chunk of any of their market capitalisations to warrant an investment case built solely around it.
On the economics of the sector itself, Kishore said India has set a target of scaling up green hydrogen production to about 5 million tonnes per annum by 2030, but progress so far has been limited. Grey hydrogen remains far cheaper, at roughly ₹150–200 a kg, while the lowest commercial price discovered for green hydrogen in the country stands at about ₹279 per kg, even with government incentives factored in — underlining the price gap that still needs to close before wider adoption becomes viable.
Rather than hydrogen-specific plays, Kishore pointed investors toward the wider clean energy shift underway in India. He flagged robust power demand growth this fiscal, running at 9%, alongside a record 51 gigawatts of renewable capacity added last year — 45 GW of it solar and 6 GW wind. With similar annual additions of 50 GW or more projected over the coming decade, he said several listed companies are positioned for mid-teen EBITDA compounding.
Among his preferred names were Torrent Power, CESC and Tata Power, which he said also stand to gain from the upcoming Electricity Amendment Bill, expected to be taken up in the next few weeks.
Watch accompanying video for full conversation.
