India has set an ambitious target of 40 GW of clean energy generation through rooftop photovoltaic (RTPV) installations to be achieved by 2021–22. RTPV uptake, however, has been sluggish with only ~6.1 GW installed so far. Of this, more than 75% capacity comes from commercial and industrial consumers and the rest from residential and  public sector rooftops.

The Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India (SRISTI) scheme was announced in early 2019. It was expected to rejuvenate the roof top photovoltaic (RTPV) sector, which by then had achieved only ~1.2 GW of the 40 GW target for 2021–22. SRISTI targeted the underserved residential category by offering attractive capital subsidies of up to 40% for 1–3 kW systems and 20% for 3–10 kW ones. The scheme also had a subsidy component of 20% for large apartment complexes and group housing societies.

Electrification of vehicle fleets has gained considerable momentum as many companies involving urban mobility in their operations are committed to reducing their carbon footprint. On the one hand, reduced battery costs, innovative business models, and policy incentives are driving the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) from fuel-powered ones. On the other hand, high purchase costs, limited range, and lack of a well-established charging network continue to be major roadblocks. To overcome these challenges, efficient fleet operation and planning strategies need to be adopted.

Globally, efforts are underway to prepare country-level climate strategies in the run-up to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP26) at Glasgow in November this year. But, like several developing countries, India seems to be taking a wait-and-watch approach to submit its long-term strategies (LTS) under the Paris Agreement. The Agreement urges all Parties to ‘formulate and communicate their long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies’.

Power infrastructure, which includes assets for generation, transmission, and distribution of power, is vulnerable to manifestations of climate change. Data from the International Disasters Database shows that during 1998–2017, India experienced an average of 16 extreme weather events resulting in a total economic loss of USD 45 billion, compared to an average of 10 events during 1978–97 with USD 20 billion in losses. Extreme weather events in the last two decades have resulted in loss of lives, decreased agricultural productivity, and infrastructure damage.

Recent reports about the residents of Chhattisgarh’s Kundru village being compelled to consume drainage water due to the non-availability of hand-pump water shouldn’t shock us. Villagers in other districts of the state have been through similar harrowing experiences for years. In the absence of piped water supply, these villages depend solely on hand-pump water for drinking and other domestic uses.

Riding on its vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government of India recently announced a slew of projects in the budget to reboot the economy, which went slack because of COVID. These projects, including the National Infrastructure Pipeline to 7,400 projects, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), and Smart Cities Mission, offer an opportunity to mainstream climate risks and nature-based solutions (NbS) into infrastructure.

In this study, projected changes in mean northeast monsoon (NEM) rainfall and associated extreme rainfall and temperature events, over peninsular India (PI) and its six subdivisions are quantified. High‐resolution dynamically downscaled simulation of Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model driven by the boundary conditions from Community Climate System Model version 4 (CCSM4) model (WRF‐CCSM4) is compared with statistically downscaled simulations of NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX‐GDDP).