As mentioned by CNN
India is rapidly overhauling its transport sector: electric three-wheelers and other electric vehicles already dominate in many cities, and in rural areas they are becoming increasingly common. About 60% of total three-wheeler sales now come from electric models.
Electric three-wheelers are also widely used in rural regions. Across India, the appetite for energy-efficient transport is growing – electric three-wheelers now account for about 60% of three-wheeler sales.
“This is good for my wallet and the environment, so why not switch?”
Electric three-wheelers dominate not only in cities but in daily life: they are used for short trips between metro stations, offices, stores, and homes. Indians account for roughly 60% of electric three-wheeler sales.
The transformation in the world’s most populous country has its challenges: many electric rickshaws operate without official permits and are powered by stolen electricity. Yet the speed and scale of this transformation are striking and signal a significant momentum for clean energy.
Although China is traditionally seen as the unrivaled leader in clean energy, India’s path to electrification could be even faster, according to a new Ember report. This has serious implications for the global energy landscape.
To compare the trajectories of the two countries, Ember looked at China in 2012, when its income per capita was around $11,000. Back then China had almost no solar capacity, whereas today solar power makes up about 9% of India’s electricity mix – from rooftop systems to large solar farms. Today India has become the third-largest solar-power producer in the world.
Since then, the role of electric vehicles has grown as well: electric vehicles account for about 5% of total vehicle sales in India, and the country sells more electric three-wheelers than any other state. In 2012 there were very few EVs on India’s roads.
Don’t fall into the illusion: India continues to depend on fossil fuels. Plans call for expanding coal mining over the next two decades, and demand for oil is rising. Growing energy demand means that, despite rapid deployment of renewables, coal is not yet fully displaced from the grid, noted Devajit Palit from the Centre for Climate Change and Energy Transitions at Chintan.
Nevertheless, according to Ember, coal consumption in India is about 40% lower than in China at a similar stage of development, and demand for oil for transport in India is significantly lower than China’s. India also has, for now, a lower per-capita oil demand (roughly half that of China in 2012).
“Which 30 years ago was fossil-fuel technology, but now it isn’t; it’s electric technology.”
Against this backdrop, India could “leapfrog” the era of heavy fossil-fuel use and choose a safer and faster path to clean energy, Bond noted.
The transition to clean energy in India largely depends on cost. In 2004, when China reached a similar level of income per capita, coal was about ten times cheaper than solar energy. Today, solar power together with storage costs is roughly half the cost of new coal plants, Ember notes.
The cost of solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries has fallen significantly. According to Bond, battery prices fell by 40% in 2024, and similar declines are unlikely for fossil fuels.
Clean energy is also viewed as a path to energy independence. India imports around 90% of its oil and about half of its gas, making the country vulnerable to price swings and geopolitics. Renewable sources could reduce this dependence, Thijs Van de Graaf of Ghent University noted.
Challenges remain. India continues to depend on China in supply chains for critical minerals and electronic components. Yet over the past decade, solar module manufacturing has grown twelvefold, and the government has launched programs to boost production of critical minerals, Palit noted.
There is also growing demand for trading partners: deals signed last month between India and the European Union are considered a significant step in this direction.
How quickly and how “dirty” the clean energy revolution in India will be is still unclear. However, the overall conclusion is that India is ahead of China in the speed of the transition to clean energy: it generates more solar, consumes less fossil fuel, and electrifies transport faster.
What India is doing could be replicated in other developing countries aiming to capitalize on the growth of cheaper wind and solar energy for economic development.
The bottom line underscores that U.S. clean-energy policy and dependence on imported resources could accelerate the transition of countries to electric energy. This creates a new global division of roles in the world’s energy landscape.
This dynamic could alter global energy policy and reboot the global competition for clean energy.
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