India has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2070 and has launched a wide-ranging set of policies to get there. The country’s climate strategy, known as the Panchamrit action plan, sets five major targets for 2030 as stepping stones toward that goal: reaching 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel energy capacity, meeting half of all energy needs through renewables, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by one billion tonnes, reducing carbon intensity of GDP by 45% compared to 2005 levels, and ultimately achieving net-zero by 2070.
That’s the headline commitment. What’s actually happening on the ground is a mix of aggressive renewable energy expansion, new green hydrogen investment, agricultural adaptation, urban heat planning, and a complicated relationship with coal that isn’t going away soon.
The Renewable Energy Push
India’s most visible climate action is its massive buildout of renewable energy. The government has set a target of 500 gigawatts of installed non-fossil fuel electricity capacity by 2030, which would mean that half the country’s total power generation comes from clean sources. The Central Electricity Authority has already prepared a national transmission plan to integrate that much renewable capacity into the grid.
India has been adding renewable capacity faster than any other major economy in recent years. Solar power has been the centerpiece, supported by one of the eight national climate missions launched back in 2008, the National Solar Mission. Wind, hydropower, and nuclear energy round out the non-fossil portfolio. The sheer scale of the target is significant: 500 gigawatts is roughly equivalent to the entire electricity generation capacity of Western Europe.
Green Hydrogen as a New Frontier
In January 2023, India launched the National Green Hydrogen Mission with an initial budget of roughly ₹19,744 crore (about $2.4 billion) through 2030. The target is to produce 5 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen annually by that year. Green hydrogen is made by splitting water using renewable electricity, producing a fuel that emits nothing when burned. India sees it as a way to clean up sectors that are hard to electrify, like steel manufacturing, fertilizer production, and long-haul transport. The mission also includes production-linked incentives to encourage domestic manufacturing of the equipment needed to produce green hydrogen at scale.
Reducing Emissions Intensity, Not Total Emissions
An important distinction in India’s climate targets: the country has pledged to cut the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030. That means less pollution per unit of economic output, not necessarily less pollution overall. India’s economy is growing rapidly, so total emissions can still rise even as intensity falls. This framing reflects India’s position that developing nations shouldn’t bear the same absolute reduction burden as wealthy countries that industrialized earlier. India updated this commitment formally with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in August 2022, raising its earlier target of 33-35% intensity reduction to the current 45%.
Forest Cover and Carbon Sinks
India’s 2015 climate pledge included a target of creating an additional 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent absorption capacity through new forest and tree cover by 2030. One of the eight national climate missions, the National Mission for a Green India, is dedicated to expanding forest cover and improving the quality of degraded forests. Forests act as carbon sinks, pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere as trees grow, and India views reforestation as a meaningful part of its climate math. The Himalayan ecosystem has its own dedicated mission focused on monitoring ecological health across the mountain states and developing adaptation strategies for communities in the region.
Preparing Agriculture for a Hotter World
Climate adaptation in farming is critical for India, where hundreds of millions of people depend on agriculture. The National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture is one of the eight core climate missions, and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has been developing crop varieties that can withstand drought, flooding, and heat. In a recent initiative, the Prime Minister released 109 new crop varieties across 61 different crops, including 34 field crops and 27 horticultural crops. These are bred to be high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified (meaning they contain higher levels of essential nutrients). The government has also proposed monthly engagement sessions where agricultural scientists directly advise farmers on adopting these new varieties and techniques.
Electric Vehicles and Clean Transport
India has been subsidizing electric vehicles through its FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) scheme. The program helped spark rapid growth in electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers across the country. A third phase of the scheme is in development, though the approach is shifting. Vehicle subsidies are expected to decrease from earlier levels. Under the most recent interim program, the maximum incentive for an electric two-wheeler dropped to ₹10,000, down from ₹26,000 previously.
The bigger investment in FAME-III may go toward charging infrastructure instead, with up to ₹2,000 crore potentially earmarked for building out charging networks. Government officials have been working on a national charging policy, debating whether to prioritize highway corridors or urban areas, and what technical standards chargers should meet. The logic is straightforward: subsidies got people to buy EVs, but without reliable charging, wider adoption stalls.
Cities Planning for Extreme Heat
As temperatures rise, Indian cities are developing Heat Action Plans to protect residents. Over 130 cities and districts are now involved in heat-health planning. A study in The Indian Journal of Medical Research evaluated eight city-level plans and found that while most included components for public alerts and health surveillance, fewer used real-time data to adjust their response during heat events. Only three of the eight plans reviewed mentioned dynamically adjusting measures based on incoming surveillance data. All eight plans did include provisions for evaluating their own effectiveness after the fact, which is a foundation for improvement. Heat-related mortality is a growing concern, and these plans represent India’s most direct effort to protect vulnerable populations from climate impacts already underway.
The Coal Problem
India’s climate ambitions coexist with a deep dependence on coal. About 74% of India’s electricity currently comes from coal-fired power plants, one of the highest shares among major economies. India has no plans to retire any coal plants before 2030 and has indicated that coal will remain a substantial part of its energy system for decades. New coal plants continue to be approved and built to meet growing electricity demand from a rapidly expanding economy and population.
This is the central tension in India’s climate story. The country is adding renewable energy at a historic pace, but it’s adding to an energy system that is also still growing on fossil fuels. The share of coal in the energy mix has remained fairly flat rather than declining, because demand for electricity overall keeps rising. India’s argument is that per capita emissions remain far below those of the United States or Europe, and that cutting off coal before alternatives are fully built out would undermine development and leave millions without reliable power.
The Lifestyle Approach
Beyond policy and infrastructure, India has promoted a behavioral change initiative called Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment). Launched through the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, it encourages individual actions across seven categories: saving energy, saving water, rejecting single-use plastic, adopting sustainable food and lifestyle habits, reducing general waste, maintaining healthy lifestyles, and reducing electronic waste. The campaign frames climate action as something ordinary people participate in daily, not just a matter of government policy. Whether such campaigns meaningfully move emissions numbers is debatable, but it signals that India views demand-side behavior as part of the equation alongside supply-side energy transitions.