With a conducive domestic environment and international support, India has the potential to be the leading example of green development by its 100th year of independence
Among the most striking contributions of India’s G20 presidency has been the mainstreaming of ‘Green Development’ into the G20 lexicon. While development has been a long-term priority for the grouping, the addition of ‘green’ to this discourse has important implications. It is a clear signal that New Delhi and the emerging world increasingly see the transition to green energy not as an obligation, but as an enabler of development. This is quite different from the perceptions in the Global North, where nations remain preoccupied with the potential effects of the transition on established geopolitical power dynamics, which have traditionally been underpinned by access to and control over oil and natural gas resources.
It is a clear signal that New Delhi and the emerging world increasingly see the transition to green energy not as an obligation, but as an enabler of development.
As is well documented, development gains in the last century have been driven by a significant increase in energy consumption, primarily satisfied by the extensive utilisation of fossil fuels. Achieving a green energy-driven development pathway will be unprecedented and will require a very different economic and energy system.
Despite the difficulties, India has already made promising strides in maintaining economic growth while reducing carbon emissions. Between 2005 and 2016, it managed to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 24 percent. A major driver of this has been the swift infusion of renewable energy into the electricity grid. Currently, India has around 130 GW of installed renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydropower plants)— almost all of it developed in the last decade. This achievement is a result of a robust policy framework at both the central and state levels, coupled with regulatory innovation and incentives linked to production, all of which have collectively driven down the cost of renewable energy to some of the most competitive rates worldwide.
India has also demonstrated great success in the targeted delivery of clean and affordable energy solutions to millions of people. The ‘Ujjwala’ Scheme has been a key reason that 85 percent of Indian households today have access to LPG for cooking —successfully reducing the dependence on highly polluting biomass-based energy sources with adverse health consequences. The bulk government procurement and distribution of LED bulbs through the ‘Ujala’ scheme was also a runaway success in reducing the cost of this energy efficient source of light, leading to the deployment of more than 368 million bulbs through this scheme.
India has also demonstrated great success in the targeted delivery of clean and affordable energy solutions to millions of people.
Spurred by its recent success, India has been one of the few countries to submit more ambitious National Determined Contributions to the UNFCCC—setting itself the target of reducing the emission intensity of its GDP by 45 percent and scaling up renewable energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030. This is in addition to India’s stated commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.
While ambition is a start, the road to achieving these goals will be strewn with obstacles.
The growth of renewable energy will not immediately be accompanied by a cessation in coal use. While renewables make up around 43 percent of the country’s installed power capacity, around 75 percent of actual power generation comes from coal-based thermal power. This is a consequence of the intermittent nature of solar and wind energy, which constitute the bulk of renewables in India. Given that around 65 percent of households in India still continue to suffer from some form of energy poverty, ensuring greater access to energy must remain a foremost priority for India. This means that the country will have no choice but to continue to rely on coal as the most cost effective and reliable form of round-the-clock power, till such a time that utility-scale energy storage solutions become affordable and renewable energy can be depended upon to provide the bulk of continuous power generation.
This will require targeted support to overcome the capacity and financial constraints that hinder SMEs from accessing clean energy at present.
India will also need to simultaneously decarbonise and industrialise to sustain economic growth while generating employment opportunities for its burgeoning young population. This will require creating the right conditions for small and medium enterprises, which constitute nearly 30 percent of GDP, to avail the benefits of the renewable energy transition. This will require targeted support to overcome the capacity and financial constraints that hinder SMEs from accessing clean energy at present.
Moreover, heavy industries such as steel, cement, and fertilisers still lack a clear path to decarbonisation. While a key prerogative will be to increase the use of electricity in their production processes, certain industries rely on high-intensity heat, a demand that presently can only be fulfilled by conventional fuels. Green hydrogen is expected to play a big part in the decarbonisation of these industries. The strides India makes in cultivating domestic capacities for green hydrogen production, galvanised by the recent Green Hydrogen Policy, will have a major bearing on industrial decarbonisation.
While the challenges are great, factors that have already helped India achieve substantial success such as strong government support, a vibrant private sector, and an increasingly aware populace will help in holding it in good stead for the future as well.
The Global North must acknowledge that the success of India's energy transition will determine whether the world can achieve the Paris Agreement targets.
Yet, for nations like India, financial constraints will continue to persist as it aims to build its new energy infrastructure alongside other crucial developmental sectors. Thus, international support in terms of financing and technology development, which has largely been absent so far, will be a crucial enabling factor. The Global North must acknowledge that the success of India's energy transition will determine whether the world can achieve the Paris Agreement targets. Efforts should be directed towards creating newer systems of international cooperation that can effectively channel necessary resources to countries where the potential is greatest.
If a strong domestic environment can be combined with adequate international support, India, by its 100th year of independence, has the potential to be the leading example of green development.
Promit Mookherjee is an Associate Fellow with the Centre for Economy and Growth in Delhi at Observer Research Foundation
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Promit Mookherjee is an Associate Fellow at the Centre for Economy and Growth in Delhi. His primary research interests include sustainable mobility, techno-economics of low ...
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