Tata Motors rolls out hydrogen trucks for India
Anyone who’s had the pleasure of trailing a ponderous old lorry on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway – breathing in diesel fumes best measured in cubic tonnes – has likely wondered if there might be a more pleasant alternative.
Tata Motors, the world’s 17th largest automaker, seems to think so.
Its latest idea: hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) trucks, developed in partnership with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).
These newfangled machines are set to ply India’s freight corridors from March onward, following their showing at the coveted Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025.
Grand tour of India’s motorways
The plan calls for these hydrogen trucks to tackle routes like Mumbai-Pune, Jamshedpur-Kalinganagar, and Mumbai-Ahmedabad – some of the subcontinent’s most congested and character-building motorways.
Over the next 18 months, Tata aims to collect real-world data and, with any luck, encourage expansion of the currently sparse hydrogen refuelling network.
It’s not the Indian automaker’s first venture into hydrogen territory, though – the firm already operates 15 hydrogen fuel cell buses with IOCL.
And Tata’s plucky little British side project, JLR, has been tinkering around with their own hydrogen-fuelled Defender project for a couple of years now.
Government support for hydrogen
For hydrogen to stand a fighting chance, however, the government must be on side. Fortunately, India’s FAME scheme – “Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles” – has been known to loosen the purse strings for cleaner transport projects.
Initially geared toward electric and hybrid vehicles, it now extends support to larger commercial ventures, and there’s talk of Production Linked Incentives (PLIs) to help hydrogen grab a slice of the subsidy pie.
Prime Minister Modi has spoken highly of a hydrogen-based future, which, if followed by tangible policy, might just make these trucks more attractive than the usual diesel suspects.
2026: Tata vs. Ashok Leyland
While Tata’s aiming to make headlines first, rival Ashok Leyland is preparing its own H2-ICE fleet for a 2026 launch.
Yet it’s not merely corporate bravado. India’s booming freight sector needs cleaner alternatives, and hydrogen could be a suitable candidate if it proves itself in reliability, cost, and range – a trifecta not easily mastered by emerging technology.
Should these trucks fulfill their promise, it might just herald a shifting tide in India’s road transport scene; should they falter, those on the subcontinent will likely find themselves stuck behind the same old timber-framed diesel haulers for a while yet.
For now, Tata presses on – buoyed by prototypes, government support, and a measure of optimism that hydrogen may become a genuine contender in heavy-duty transportation.
Whether that optimism is well-placed remains to be seen. We’d like to believe it will. Either way, at least this time it won’t be diesel smoke obscuring the road ahead.
