India needs to develop vibrant low carbon manufacturing industry

As the country has set ambitious net-zero and energy transition goals, sector experts have suggested that India will have to develop a vibrant low carbon manufacturing industry.

In an interaction Vibha Dhawan, director, TERI said: “When we are talking of energy transition, it’s directly related to the sustainable development goals and what we are basically looking at that we have to develop a vibrant low carbon manufacturing industry."

The statement gains significance as several industries exporting goods to the Europe are already preparing themselves to comply to the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which would come into force in October. India already is taking steps to curb the impact of the mechanism and is also preparing an electrification strategy for the industry to decarbonize operations.

Nitin Prasad, Chairman, Shell Group of Companies in India stressed on the need for a carbon market. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and Shell recently launched a report ‘India Transforming to Net Zero Emissions Energy System’ outlining India’s needs in the current decade to help meet its net-zero emissions target while also delivering energy security and energy equity.

The report mentioned introduction of carbon pricing measures to drive low-carbon businesses and consumer choices as a key to the energy transition journey. “The report recognizes the importance of putting in place a carbon market going forward," Prasad said.

On the concerns of barriers such as CBAM, the Shell executive said that there will be a market for low-carbon technologies and low-carbon manufacturing moving forward and there is an opportunity for India to become a leader in these spaces.

Apart from carbon markets, pricing of carbon and developing a vibrant low-carbon manufacturing industry, the joint report has identified several other key areas for policy and investment action in order to realize India’s ambitious climate target.

It has suggested harnessing the co-benefits of energy transition to drive broader sustainable development goals, expansion of electricity transmission and distribution networks, ramping up investments in energy storage and renewables integration among others.

It has also recommended implementing a strategic roadmap for carbon capture and storage (CCS) and incentivize investments in carbon removal.

It noted along with the need for energy, India confronts an ‘energy trilemma’ which requires balance energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability while pursuing decarbonization.

The report also highlights the need for increasing electrification in energy end use sectors, meeting electricity demand increasingly from non-fossil sources, developing low-carbon alternatives such as hydrogen and biofuels for hard-to-electrify segments.

Further, deploying digital solutions to enable low carbon alternatives, supporting circular economy business models are also key measures required, it said.