Climate and Energy - India
India is a significant global player when it comes to climate change, being the 3rd largest greenhouse gas emitter and the 3rd largest final energy consuming country in the world. With country’s population growth, currently reaching almost 1.4 billion inhabitants, increased access to modern services, increasing electrification rates and GDP growth, the current expectation is that India’s final energy use and CO2 emissions will increase strongly in the years to come. At the same time, in 2015 India has committed to the Paris Agreement with ambitious goals of cutting emissions of greenhouse gases by 33-35% and have 450 GW of non-fossil power generation capacity by 2030.
During COP26 in 2021 India announced even more ambitious goals and a net-zero target by the year 2070. To meet these goals, the Indian government made large-scale funding in renewable energy production available and has created policy to support this sector. In the last seven years, over USD 70 billion were invested in the renewable energy sector.
Statement of Intent (SoI) with NITI Aayog
Embassy of the Netherlands sign Statement of Intent (SoI) with NITI Aayog on Decarbonisation and Energy transition agenda.
NITI Aayog, India’s premier policy think tank, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, signed a SoI on 28th September 2020. In this the two countries declare to work together to support the decarbonisation and energy transition agenda to accommodate cleaner and more energy to deliver its economic and sustainability goals.
- Lowering net carbon footprint in industrial and transport sector.
- Realising the target potential of Natural Gas and promoting bio-energy technologies.
- Adoption of clean air technologies from monitoring to reducing actual particulates.
- Adoption of next generations technologies e.g. Hydrogen, Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage for sectoral energy efficiency.
- Financial frameworks for delivering and adoption of climate change finance.
Hydrogen
In order to address all the future energy demands of India in a green way, vast solar and wind power investments have been made and now India is exploring other sources to produce green energy and eliminate carbon emissions. Among the new solutions, hydrogen has found its way to the national priority status. In the Union Budget 2021-22, the Government of India has allocated EUR 90 million for the current fiscal year to hydrogen research and production. A policy framework on hydrogen, specifically in the green form, will be published this year. The framework will expedite producing and commercializing fuel cells and end-user applications for the industry’s power needs. India’s ambition is to get the price of green hydrogen below $2/kg in the next decade, and to become its largest exporter. By 2050 the Indian government estimates to have 75% of its hydrogen in green form, produced by the decreasing in price renewable energy sources, with focus on solar.
The Trade Network of the Embassy is closely following the green hydrogen developments in India and creates opportunities for starting a green hydrogen collaboration between India and the Netherlands.
Electric vehicles
India has been one of the fastest-growing major global economies in recent years. While India is yet to officially spell out its vehicle electrification targets, NITI Aayog's stated aspiration is that by 2030, 70 per cent of all commercial cars, 30 per cent of private cars, 40 per cent of buses, and 80 per cent of two- wheeler (2W) and three-wheeler (3W) sales should be electric.
Should India achieve its 2030 electric vehicle ambition, it would present a market opportunity worth nearly EUR 170 billion in this decade. The Indian government is keen to support the adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles in the country and has put in place several incentives and policies to meet its objectives.
Key opportunities for Dutch businesses in India lie in:
- Connected and shared charging infrastructure – India is yet to build out its charging infrastructure
- Investments in public transport Dutch investors can bring in capital to secure concession agreements for bus operations while partnering with local bus manufacturers / operators.
- New mobility fleet operations and management – Urbanisation alongside other trends such as rise in e-commerce and home-delivery of goods, is stimulates India’s mobility needs. Business model innovation and operational efficiency improvements is what the market is seeking
- Manufacturing value-chain – technologies to build various new electric powertrain is catalysing new opportunities across the value chain as businesses re-invent themselves for electrification.
- Technology services outsourcing - Dutch businesses can use India’s low-cost technology development capabilities to roll out connected and data-driven mobility businesses across the world.