Economic Survey 2023: India re-pledges for net zero goal by 2070

India has pledged to achieve its net zero emissions goal by 2070. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Economic Survey tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday said that the country has already achieved its target of 40% installed electric capacity from non-fossil fuels ahead of the 2030 goal. The likely installed capacity from non-fossil fuels is to be more than 500 GW by 2030 resulting in a decline of the average emission rate by around 29% by 2029-30, compared to 2014-15.

According to the survey, India would reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% by 2030 from 2005 levels. About 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity would come from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.

The Government has heightened its focus on climate and the environment and has launched a host of initiatives, one of them being a mass movement called Life (lifestyle for the environment). In November 2022, the Sovereign Green Bond Framework was issued. The Reserve Bank of India has auctioned two tranches of ₹4,000 crore Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrB).

The survey also states that India would be energy independent under the National Green Hydrogen by 2047. Green hydrogen production capacity of at least five million metric tonnes per annum is likely to be developed by 2030. This would lead to a cumulative reduction in fossil fuel imports of over Rs 100,000 crore and help create over six lakh jobs by 2030 under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. Renewable energy capacity addition of close to 125 GW would lead to an abatement of nearly 50 million metric tonnes of annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

India, says the Economic Survey is becoming a favoured destination for renewables. The sector has attracted investments worth $ 78.1 billion in the last seven years.

The Survey also talks about the construction of 62.8 lakh individual household toilets and 6.2 lakh community and public toilets until August last year, under the National Mission on Sustainable Habitat.