The world’s fastest growing major economy and most populous country has also committed to to reducing its emissions intensity by 47 percent by 2035
India has announced a long-awaited upgrade to its climate commitments, promising to increase the share of clean energy in its electricity capacity to 60% by 2035.
India had previously aimed to bring the share of non-fossil fuels to 50% of installed power capacity by 2030.
It managed to meet that target in 2025, five years earlier than it planned. That would also mean that New Delhi’s latest targets are much smaller that its potential, some analysts say.
Clean energy already accounts for 52.6% of India’s installed electricity capacity.
“India’s booming clean energy industry is highly likely to deliver much faster progress than policymakers were prepared to commit to,” Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst and co-founder at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, told Reuters.
Meanwhile, the world’s fastest growing major economy and most populous country has also committed to to reducing its emissions intensity by 47 percent by 2035, compared with 2005 levels.
Emissions intensity is a measurement of emissions generated relative to GDP. As of 2020, India had cut its emissions intensity by 36% from 2005 levels.
The fresh commitments came after the cabinet approved India’s so-called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a roadmap to achieve climate change goals under the Paris Agreement.
“India’s climate action has been sustained and ambitious,” the government said in a statement, adding that its strategy centred on renewable energy.
The Central Electricity Authority, an adviser to India’s federal power ministry, expects rising solar and wind power additions to push clean energy’s share in the power mix to 70% by 2035, much higher than the government’s 60% pledge, Reuters reported.
New Delhi also aims to create a carbon sink of up to three billion tonnes by 2030, compared to 2005 levels. The updated pledges expand that plan to between 3.5 and four billion tonnes by 2035.
“India is capitalising on the extraordinary momentum that saw it smash its previous renewable energy goals years ahead of schedule,” climate activist Harjeet Singh told AFP.
The world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases has been facing pressure to curb pollution while meeting rising energy demand.
Like all signatories to the Paris accord, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, India is required to submit updated NDCs to the United Nations through 2035.
It has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2070, but remains heavily reliant on coal, which accounts for roughly 75 percent of its electricity generation.
While scientists note that the proportion of coal in India’s electricity mix is starting to decline, it remains to be seen how that trend will sustain amid the Iran war.
Fuel shortage caused by the war has forced India, along with several other Asian nations, to return to coal to maintain their energy security.
The country emitted an estimated 4.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, according to UN data, trailing only China and the United States.
However, its per-capita emissions and historical contribution to global warming remain far lower than many developed nations.
While India’s absolute emissions continue to rise alongside economic growth, New Delhi often cites its low per-capita emissions to argue that developed nations must do more to fight climate change.
Vishakha Saxena is the Multimedia and Social Media Editor at Asia Financial. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013, and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is keenly interested in new economy, emerging markets and the intersections of finance and society. You can write to her at [email protected]
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