India’s Climate Milestones, Coal Reality, and Coalition Strategy 1. India’s climate pathway balances development and sustainability through renewable expansion, emissions-intensity reduction, and coalition leadership, while confronting coal dependence, financing gaps, bottlenecks, and rising energy demand. 2. India targeted 175 GW renewables for 2022 but achieved 119 GW excluding large hydro, missing the mark yet creating momentum; by October 2025 renewables reached about 242 GW. 3. India’s emissions are about 4,195 MtCO2e, roughly 7.6% globally; per capita near 1.85 tCO2e supports equity claims; cumulative since 1850 totals 169,900 MtCO2e. 4. India pledged a 45% GDP emissions-intensity cut from 2005 by 2030 and 50% cumulative installed non-fossil capacity; it targets net-zero 2070 and promotes Mission LiFE. 5. In 2023 non-fossil capacity neared 49%: solar ~123 GW, wind 52 GW, large hydro 50 GW; yet renewable generation including hydro is ~22% amid coal-dominant dispatch. 6. FY2024–25 added 29.52 GW renewables, led by ~24 GW solar; April–September 2025 added ~25 GW, including 21.7 GW solar and 3.09 GW wind. 7. India reached 50% installed capacity from non-fossil sources about five years before 2030; nevertheless energy-related CO2 emissions rose about 5.3% in 2024 amid demand growth. 8. First-half 2025 power-sector CO2 fell about 1% year-on-year, linked to record clean additions and favorable weather; 2015–2020 policies reportedly avoided about 440 MtCO2. 9. Between 2005 and 2019, India cut GDP emissions intensity about 33%, advancing its 2030 pledge; leadership is pursued via ISA, CDRI, GBA, LeadIT, and IBCA with implementation focus. 10. ISA began at COP21 in November 2015 with France; 100+ signatories and 90+ ratifications. CDRI launched September 2019; ~60 members support 180+ resilience projects worldwide, with Delhi secretariat. 11. GBA launched September 2023 with the G20 in New Delhi and expanded by mid-2025. LeadIT, co-launched 2019 with Sweden, entered a new phase at COP28 globally. 12. IBCA launched April 2023; Cabinet approval came March 2024. An April 2025 Headquarters Agreement established its secretariat in India; by 2025, over 12 countries formally joined as members. 13. Coal supplies ~73% of electricity generation and ~44% of primary energy; energy demand may roughly double from 2020 to 2040, complicating transition sequencing for states and workers nationally. 14. Net-zero pathways need about $10 trillion (2020–2070). Finance flows near $44B annually versus needs ~$260B; transmission lags cause curtailment; FY2024 solar imports exceeded $12B value overall. 15. Opportunities include Morena solar-plus-storage at ₹2.70/kWh, PM Suryaghar adding ~6 GW rooftop for two million households, more storage and corridors, managed coal transition, skills. Must Know Terms 1.NDC and Net Zero NDC and Net Zero: India’s updated NDC (submitted Aug 2022) commits to (i) reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 from 2005 levels, and (ii) achieve about 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030. Separately, India announced a net-zero target year of 2070 at COP26 (2 Nov 2021), alongside “Panchamrit” milestones including 500 GW non-fossil power capacity by 2030. 2.Dispatch Gap Dispatch Gap: The hard shortage at peak—Peak Demand minus Peak Met (MW), also expressed as “Demand Not Met (%)”. Official all-India data show: FY 2022-23 peak demand 215,888 MW vs peak met 207,231 MW → gap 8,657 MW (4.0%). FY 2023-24 gap 3,340 MW (1.4%). FY 2024-25 gap 2 MW (0.0%). FY 2025-26 (Apr–Dec 2025) peak demand 242,773 MW vs peak met 242,493 MW → gap 280 MW (0.1%). 3.International Solar Alliance (ISA) International Solar Alliance (ISA): Treaty-based intergovernmental organisation headquartered at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram. It became treaty-based when its Framework Agreement entered into force on 6 Dec 2017 after the 15th ratification. ISA’s official portal currently shows 112 Member Countries and 14 Signatory Countries (public count on the site home page). 4.Coal Reliance and Just Transition Coal Reliance and Just Transition: Coal remains the backbone of India’s electricity generation even as non-fossil installed capacity rises. In 2024, India generated about 2,030 TWh of electricity; coal contributed a record ~1,517.9 TWh (renewables ~240.5 TWh). Coal is also a jobs-and-regional-economy issue: a Government of India document lists workforce in major coal companies as Coal India Limited 330,318; SCCL 40,893; NLC India 20,811. “Just transition” focuses on planned worker reskilling, social protection, and district-level economic diversification as coal use gradually declines. 5.Climate Finance Gap Climate Finance Gap: Two hard numbers show the “gap”. First, the long-standing developed-country pledge: OECD reported developed countries provided and mobilised USD 115.9 billion in climate finance for developing countries in 2022 (first time exceeding USD 100 billion). Second, the needs scale: UNFCCC notes the Standing Committee on Finance (2021 Needs Determination Report) found nearly USD 6 trillion is needed to implement developing countries’ climate action plans by 2030 (and this does not fully cost adaptation). COP29 also agreed a new post-2025 finance goal architecture: scale up climate finance for developing countries to at least USD 1.3 trillion annually by 2035 (all actors) and developed countries to take the lead in mobilising at least USD 300 billion annually by 2035. 6.Transmission, Storage, Curtailment Transmission, Storage, Curtailment: Grid constraints show up as curtailment and delayed evacuation. CEA’s transmission plan for integrating 500+ GW renewables by 2030 is officially costed at about ₹2.44 lakh crore and is designed for ~537 GW RE integration. Curtailment has become measurable: an Ember analysis reported about 2.3 TWh of solar power was curtailed in India over May–December 2025 for grid-security reasons. Storage is being pushed as the balancing tool, but deployment is still small versus tenders: Reuters reported only ~500 MWh operational as of Sept 2025 out of ~83 GWh tendered since 2021, and noted bids in some tenders falling below ₹1.5/kWh, raising viability concerns. MCQ 1. India’s net-zero target year stated in the passage is: (a) 2030 (b) 2047 (c) 2070 (d) 2100 2. India’s 2022 renewable deployment target was: (a) 119 GW (b) 175 GW (c) 242 GW (d) 500 GW 3. By 2022, renewable capacity excluding large hydro was stated as: (a) 100 GW (b) 119 GW (c) 175 GW (d) 242 GW 4. India’s greenhouse gas emissions
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