In the present study we describe the design, fabrication and gas sensing performance of p-NiO/nZnO nanocomposite synthesized by sol-gel followed by impregnation method. The formation of ZnO: NiO nanocomposite was confirmed by Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The microstructure of the sample was visualized by Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) which revealed the formation of hexagonal structure of size ~10nm. Furthermore, we investigated the gas sensing performance of ZnO: NiO nanocomposite which showed excellent sensitivity and selectivity towards hydrogen in comparison to other interfering gases. The significantly improved performance was thoroughly explained in terms of adsorption – oxidation - desorption pathway. The achieved features make the sample a prospective candidate for the fabrication of H2 gas detection sensor.