India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior officials are discussing setting a target of net zero emissions by 2050, some media reported. If agreed, it would match US President Joe Biden’s target and trump China’s pledge to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. The three countries are the world’s largest carbon emitters.
Analysts and climate activists will wait for the details from India’s climate plans. Exports estimated that the switch from fossil fuels to renewables would cost tremendously for India. They said that New Delhi will have to effectively stop all new coal-fired power generation and phased out existing capacities and replace them with renewables.
The Indian government has already set an ambitious target to increase the country’s renewable generation capacity from 90 GW today to 450 GW by the end of the decade. This means that India needs to expand the capacity by 35 GW every year.
