Over two-thirds of Indian goods are transported on roads. About 11 million freight vehicles carry 2.1 trillion tonne-km of freight annually (Bernard Aritua et al., 2018). These vehicles are largely dependent on fossil-based fuels (90% is diesel) for their movement (NITI Aayog et al., 2021). The road freight sector consumes about 70.5 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) and emits 213 Mt of CO2 annually. Thus, it accounts for approximately 53% of the country’s transport fuel consumption and about 54% of CO2 emissions.

The Government of India, in 2015, had set an ambitious target of installing 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022. The target included 40 GW of rooftop solar (RTS) systems and 60 GW of ground-mounted utility-scale solar (GMS) systems.

Recently, TPPs across India experienced an acute coal shortage. The shortage was also felt throughout the Asian subcontinent. Many internal and external factors have contributed to the situation and are under investigation. Stakeholders have identified some of the most common causes of this situation.

Several parts of India reeled under a heatwave in April with temperatures soaring from 43 Degree Celsius to 46 Degree Celsius - the highest since 1901. The grim news is that in the decades to come, India is expected to suffer more frequent and intense heat waves as a result of climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and district-level climate projections made for India at the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy.

 

Meeting India’s short- and long-term climate commitments made at COP26 entails a complete economic transformation, which can have considerable developmental tradeoffs. Many long-term energy and climate models that project low-carbon pathways for the country consider the gross domestic product (GDP) to be exogenously driving growth in various sectors. However, low-carbon policies or technologies will also impact GDP, as well as other economic variables like employment and income.

Almost 10 per cent of the total GHG emissions in India come from its transport sector. Attaining the ‘net zero’ goal calls for strong sectoral interventions, therefore.

India today has over 9 lakh registered electric vehicles (EVs). The efforts to promote EVs primarily include demand-side incentives—at both central and state levels (in accordance with their respective policies), setting up EV-charging infrastructures within major cities and along major highways, a stimulus to electric-bus adoption by different state transport undertakings, and boosting local manufacturing of essential parts through the production-linked-incentive scheme.

According to a Karnataka Government site, data from the last three years (FY 18-19 to FY 20-21) show that 58 departmental and 1,077 non-departmental fatal accidents took place at five state electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) during this period.

The DISCOMs are usually responsible for the laying of distribution infrastructure that supplies electricity to the end consumers (residential, industrial, commercial, agriculture, and others). Though several public safety measures are in place, electrical accidents do occur, causing injury and/or loss of life and property.