India is doing pretty well in serving the energy transition story but the challenge lies in sustaining this growth for a long term
Pradeep Tharakan, Director of Energy Transition at Asian Development Bank on Monday said that India is the world's darling in energy transition. His remarks came while responding to a question at the Outlook Planet C3 summit about the challenges that India might face to execute this energy transition.
“Indian projects, programs, and achievements are making headlines almost every other day. So, when we talk about energy transition, we typically consider several key factors. Long-term plans need to be put in place, and they must be ambitious. The government has already set a net-zero goal for 2070. We also have the 2030 NDCs, which will soon be updated. You mentioned the Panchamrit targets—these are critical long-term commitments shaping India's energy future,” Tharakan said.
Notably, India is advancing towards its energy transition vision of achieving net zero by 2070 and the goal of meeting 50% of its electricity requirements from non-fossil sources by 2030.
Tharakan said that India is doing pretty well in serving the energy transition story but the challenge lies in sustaining this growth for a long term. He remarked that India needs to replicate at least five times of this growth every year consistently for the next 40 years and that is the challenge.
“Now what we're seeing in the markets is so far renewable energy financing has, there's a fair amount of domestic equity available. There's a fair amount of foreign equity coming in. But most of the debt financing has been from the banks. Commercial banks have been supporting a lot of the clean energy financing. And now they are reaching exposure limits,” Tharakan added.
Companies have realised the importance of energy transition and have started to innovate and integrate sustainability into their core strategies, utilising green technologies and improving on climate disclosures to attract green finance. India is making significant progress toward sustainable development and climate goals in the form of strong policies, better investments, and international collaboration.
The Solar energy sector has grown at a 36.5% CAGR (Compound annual growth rate), while investments in Electric Vehicles, wind energy, and BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) total billions annually.
Outlook Planet is hosting the first edition of C3—Climate Circularity Community—a flagship sustainability event designed to help MSMEs in their sustainable business journey. The event is a one of a kind sustainability gathering organised exclusively to support MSMEs adopt sustainable practices and thrive in the green economy.
India has nearly 6 crore registered micro, small and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) accounting for nearly 30% of the country’s GDP. Consuming approximately 25% of the industrial sector’s energy, these enterprises are expected to contribute over 72 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. MSMEs, as the backbone of the Indian economy, are significant energy consumers and contributors to the nation’s carbon footprint.