The fifth India Clean Air Summit (ICAS) — the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy’s flagship event on air pollution — will be held from 22–24 August in Bengaluru. This year’s summit promises to be just as (if not more) informative, insightful, and engaging as the previous ones.

In 2019, the Government of India launched the second phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (FAME II) scheme to bring electric vehicles (EVs) at par with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in terms of affordability. This was primarily aimed at helping India achieve its climate commitments and EV30@30 goals.

To meet its global commitments, India is planning to reduce fossil-fuel-based power generation by targeting 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. However, the increasing adoption of renewable and distributed energy resources is creating several technical and economic challenges in the Indian power system due to intermittency and lack of infrastructure.

Technology plays a crucial role in realising the sustainable development goals of India. In this context, the government has introduced various policies to support the indigenous development of technology and strengthen collaborations with foreign entities for technology sourcing and development. Time averaging of technology impacts has shown improvements in livelihoods, comfort, economy, and health. However, the advent of technology does come with some negative impacts.