India's energy transition path is set to get steeper

With low-hanging fruit plucked, the country's challenge of scaling up renewable energy is getting harder, especially since we need to connect rural India. A new roadmap is in order

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India recently achieved a milestone in its global commitments on climate action, with renewable energy touching the halfway mark in overall electricity generation five years ahead of schedule. The voluntary pledges were made as part of the Paris pact of 2016, when close to 200 countries under the UN's aegis agreed to set themselves targets for the reduction of carbon emissions. The power sector is India's single largest polluter, given our heavy reliance on coal as a fuel to generate it. While our fast-tracked renewable capacity addition is testimony to a slew of policy measures taken to spur solar electricity production, falling global prices of solar panels—they crashed by 90% over the past decade—have made a significant difference too. Shortages across India had signaled demand and we got a robust solar response.