To keep pace with India’s RE commitments, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) invited expressions of interest from prospective developers in 2017 to implement 10 GW of floating photovoltaic (FPV) systems by 2022. However, as of July 2019, India has been able to add only about 2.7 MW. Currently, large-scale projects worth ~1.7 GW are under development, which are expected to contribute significantly to the 2020 target. This includes the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC’s) 100 MW plant in Telangana, India’s largest FPV project.

India’s falling aquifer levels, erratic monsoons, arable land constraints, stagnating crop yields, growing food demand, and rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions necessitate that strategic interventions be planned and implemented to maintain food security in the country.

‘Lovebird’, the first electric vehicle (EV) in India, was launched in 1993 by Eddy Current Controls. Equipped with a lead–acid battery, which took eight hours to charge fully, the two-seater car had a driving range of 60 km per charge. Zero subsidies, the lack of electric power and networks, and the inability of the car to climb a gradient above 15 degrees were some major drawbacks back then. The technology, infrastructure, and policy support for EVs is much better today, but the price is still as high as it was in the 90s when compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. 

In India, the electrification of the transportation sector is considered a vital strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution. Therefore, the central and state governments have introduced policies, financial schemes, guidelines, and standards to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles (EV). In addition to its favourable impact on the environment, transition to electric mobility can also expedite India’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) goals to reduce GHG emission intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 33-35% by 2030, from 2005 level.

The high capacity of Li-rich layered cathode materials is always accompanied by the removal of oxygen from the crystal structure. These oxygen vacancies alter the structural stability, which subsequently deteriorates the electrochemical performance. The electronic origin of oxygen stability with partial delithiation has not been extensively studied so far in the presence of multiple d-orbital elements. Current work presents the experimental and density functional theory based study of the Li-rich phase, Li1.17Ni0.17Mn0.67O2.

The current government has set an ambitious RE target of 450 GW by 2030. Though RE plants are considered green, they could have unintended impacts. Recent projects in this sector have been troubled by unintended socio-ecological conflicts due to flaws while siting land parcels and inadequate planning.