India scaling renewable energy capacity but challenges remain: ADB

New Delhi [India], April 29 : India has scaled up its renewable energy capacity by 250 per cent between 2014 and 2021. It now ranks fourth in renewable energy capacity in the world but attempting a clean energy transition at the scale that India requires faces many challenges, according to Asian Development Bank (ADB).

An article authored by Pradeep Tharakan, Regional Advisor (Energy Transition and Financing), and Praveen Mkpuri, Senior Project Officer (Skills Development), South Asia Department at ADB raised a few challenges for India's renewable energy transition.

They include access to affordable financing, lack of institutions that can deploy financing effectively in new low-carbon growth areas, and technology risks. Another key consideration, which has a far-reaching impact, is ensuring a "just transition".

India will actively pursue these goals through initiatives such as the proposed solar cities and parks, National Green Hydrogen Mission, and the Green Energy Corridor, the article said.

"It is also rolling out policy measures and incentives that enable the uptake of green energy and technology, including the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for entities that set up manufacturing facilities for clean technology."

As India and other emerging economies strive to accelerate their energy transition, it is imperative that they scale up efforts to ensure a just transition that would avoid creating an 'energy transition divide'.

At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had committed to an ambitious five-part "Panchamrit" pledge, including reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, to generate half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reduce emissions by one billion tons by 2030.

India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. India has committed to net-zero emissions by 2070.

India banned several single-use plastics starting in July 2022. Single-use plastics are typically items that are discarded after being used only once and do not go through the recycling process.

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