Schlep Blindness in India's Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme

Article reading prerequisite: I reference the word "schlep" frequently; if the term is new to you, read Paul Graham's classic essay Schlep Blindness before diving in.

What is Schlep Blindness?

"Schlep" is a Yiddish word that has been adopted into English. As a verb it means to drag or haul something difficult, and as a noun it can describe a clumsy or awkward person. In startup culture the phrase "schlep blindness" refers to the tendency to ignore hard, inconvenient problems even when solving them is essential for sustainable market development.

India's green hydrogen journey has suffered from its own version of schlep blindness. For years, the industry acknowledged that certification, traceability, and compliance tools were painfully absent yet nobody wanted to own the problem. The launch of the Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme of India (GHCI) is an attempt to confront that schlep head-on. But does it actually remove friction, or does it introduce a new one?

India's Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme at a Glance

The GHCI, launched on April 29, 2025 under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, creates a national framework for validating green hydrogen. It sets a rigorous emission threshold and spells out who can certify what, how often, and against which metrics.

Key takeaways

2 kg CO2e per kg H2 threshold: The standard is stricter than the EU's CertifHy benchmark of 3.4 kg CO2e/kg H2, which could improve India's export credibility but tighten requirements for domestic producers.
Four certificate types: Concept, facility, provisional, and final certificates map to the lifecycle of a project, but may feel complex to teams without in-house compliance talent.
Structured governance: The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) leads, supported by an implementing agency and empanelled accredited verification agencies (AVAs).
Digital reporting: A unified verification portal, secure data room, and blockchain registry are promised to standardise data collection and audit trails.

The scheme squarely targets the regulatory gaps that previously held back project finance and offtake agreements. Yet it also raises new schleps, especially around monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV).

How GHCI Addresses the Old Schlep

Clarity for investors and exporters. Clear emissions accounting and a recognised certificate hierarchy shrink ambiguity for buyers in Europe and Asia who need guarantees of origin.
Alignment with mission goals. By linking certification to incentives under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government can channel subsidies to projects that prove compliance.
Domestic value chain development. The scheme emphasises indigenous testing infrastructure, digital MRV pipelines, and interoperability with standards like ISO 14687 and EN 16325.

The intent is unmistakable: de-risk each molecule by making provenance transparent from production to delivery.

New Schleps Introduced by the Scheme

While the GHCI closes critical gaps, it also introduces practical hurdles that the ecosystem must now tackle:

Limited testing infrastructure. India still lacks accredited labs and auditors at the scale required. Until capacity catches up, verification bottlenecks could delay certificates.
Complex approvals. Producers must juggle concept validation, facility-level clearance, and recurring MRV submissions. Without workflow automation, small teams will struggle.
Data burdens for MSMEs. The exemption for facilities under ten tons per year keeps them outside the formal system, limiting their ability to claim incentives or participate in exports.
Cost of compliance. Independent validation, blockchain registry onboarding, and edge device instrumentation add to capex and opex at a time when unit economics are already tight.

In short, a new schlep appears: operationalising certification without paralysing the innovators the policy set out to empower.

Anatomy of the Certification Process

The GHCI breaks the journey into four certificate types:

Concept Certificate (voluntary). Submitted during design to ensure planned infrastructure will meet GHCI thresholds. Ideal for early-stage diligence and investor conversations.
Facility Level Certificate (mandatory). Issued after the facility receives consent to operate. Confirms that installed equipment, energy sources, and measurement systems align with GHCI requirements.
Provisional Certificate (voluntary). Automatically generated each month as long as the project submits MRV data proving compliance within the 11-month evaluation cycle.
Final Certificate (mandatory). Required for government incentives, domestic sales, or partial export commitments. It is the definitive attestation that net lifecycle emissions stay below 2 kg CO2e/kg H2.

AVAs validate the data, while the implementing agency maintains the registry. A blockchain-based ledger records each certificate to create a tamper-evident audit trail.

Technical Anchors

GHG calculation: Net greenhouse gas emissions are computed using methodologies aligned with ISO 14064 and ISO 14067, with explicit rules on energy sourcing, co-product handling, and temporal matching of renewable electricity.
Digital infrastructure: The scheme calls for edge devices capable of near-real-time data capture and a secure digital data room for audits. A national verification portal will standardise submissions and status tracking.
Open registry: Approved certificates live in a blockchain registry, improving trust for cross-border trade and enabling programmatic integration with market platforms.

Global Context and Industry Response

By pushing a tighter emissions threshold, India positions itself for premium export markets that demand verifiable low-carbon molecules. Early signals are positive: bilateral agreements with Japan and Singapore reference the scheme, and industry voices on X have lauded the launch as a watershed moment for transparency.

However, the work is only beginning. Without robust MRV tooling, the same companies celebrating the policy could be slowed by its administrative load. Feedback from MSMEs during national workshops highlights the need for plug-and-play compliance solutions, shared testing infrastructure, and faster grant disbursals to offset audit costs.

The Real Schlep Ahead

Regulation alone will not eliminate schlep blindness. The ecosystem now needs:

Automated MRV stacks that integrate sensor data, energy certificates, and carbon accounting in real time.
Trusted certification partners that can vet facilities quickly without compromising rigour.
Training and talent pipelines so operators understand lifecycle assessment, emissions modelling, and digital traceability.
Financial tools that recognise compliant hydrogen as a differentiated asset class.

Without these, the 2 kg threshold risks becoming a theoretical badge rather than a commercial lever.

Conclusion

The Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme is the boldest attempt yet to cure India's schlep blindness around regulatory infrastructure. It brings clarity, credibility, and a unified language for certifying molecules. Yet it also surfaces a new class of schleps tied to execution: data availability, auditor capacity, and cost recovery for smaller players.

For startups and innovators, the message is clear. Embrace the hard work now--build MRV-ready systems, design for audits from day one, and collaborate with policymakers to streamline verification. Whoever solves this operational schlep first will own the trust layer of India's hydrogen economy.