Incorporating strategies such as nano structuring into 1D architectures, vacancy engineering, and nitrogen doping led to a rapid explosion of studies based on transition metal oxides as potential electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, majority of studies are based on well-explored oxides such as WO3, NiO, etc., with little attention to other transition metals despite showing theoretical promise. For instance, it was observed that the presence of surface oxygen vacancies renders the surrounding tantalum atoms more electron donating thus making oxygen deficient tantalum oxide an attractive proposition for HER. Coupled with a unique methodology of obtaining 1D fibers based on high-throughput centrifugal spinning, this study for the first-time reports’ oxygen-deficient tantalum oxide fibers as potential electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction. 1D fibers were synthesized through the combination of centrifugal spinning tantalum ethoxide/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) mixture at 10,000 rpm followed by treatment in reducing atmosphere-(Ar + 5% H2) to generate oxygen vacancies.   The presence of oxygen vacancies was confirmed through XPS and EPR studies.  The obtained centrifugally spun oxygen deficient Ta2O5-X demonstrated superior performance (ƞ =300 mV @ 10 mA cm-2 vs RHE) compared to Ta2O5 (ƞ =500 mV @ 10 mA cm-2) in 1M KOH. Also, a lower charge transfer resistance was observed in the former (Rct ~ 145 Ω at an applied voltage of -400 mV vs RHE) than in the latter (Rct~ 300 Ω at an applied voltage of -400 mV vs RHE) indicating enhanced performance due to oxygen vacancy engineering..