Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, told IANS, “India’s economy is heavily dependent on traditional fossil fuel energy but this reliance is now crippling the environment and economy.” “This study shows clearly that as the country undertakes a Covid-led economic recovery, a vision of an integrated energy system is possible. It is also the one that is desirable. In northern India, 63 per cent of electricity comes from coal. Though, in the last few years India has improved its de-carbonization trajectory, there are some states in the northern grids which are still lagging behind.” She said during the lockdown when the electricity demand dropped significantly, renewable energy sources dominated the energy supply mix as coal power plants struggled to maintain the plant load factors.

“This is the right time for accelerating electrification with low-cost renewable electricity as an energy carrier,” an optimistic Khosla added. The report takes into account India’s heavy GHG emissions, rising demand for power and its acute vulnerability to water stress, and lays out a possible roadmap for the country to meet its emissions reduction targets under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. It is focussed on eight states and Union Territories. They are Jammu and Kashmir, including Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and models the transition of the energy-intensive sectors of transport, power, heat and desalination away from fossil fuel and nuclear power.

Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies with IEEFA, said, “It’s clear that solar is the least cost source of new energy supply and the outlook is for a continuation of some 10 per cent annual deflation over the coming decade making the financial case ever stronger.”