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As an emerging market, India is one of the world’s largest car and two-wheeler manufacturers. It also has the fourth-largest railway network and the fastest-growing aviation market. Our motor vehicle fleet is growing rapidly — with the vehicles plying on the road expected to almost double to over 200 million by 2030. Interestingly, the share of non-motorized transport in many Indian cities is high compared to similarly-sized cities globally. In Indian cities with a population of over 1 million, non-motorized transport accounted for more than 25 percent of passenger trips, compared with approximately 14 per cent in London. The Covid-19 pandemic has posed several challenges for the transport sector, one of which is the shift of citizens from public to private and personal modes of transport. Let’s see the Definition of Decarbonising Transport In India.
Definition of Decarbonising Transport in India
Definition of Decarbonising Transport In India, an ambitious five-year project will help India develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system by developing modelling tools and policy scenarios. The project will design a tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India. The India project is carried out in the wider context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonizing Transport initiative.
Decarbonizing Transport in Emerging Economies (DTEE):
It supports transport decarbonization across different world regions. Current participants: India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco.
Implementation: The DTEE is a collaboration between the International Transport Forum (ITF) and the Wuppertal Institute, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. The transport sector of India is the third most greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, where the major contribution comes from the road transport sector.
Decarbonizing India’s Road Transport Sector
On 11 March 2022, the Indian Partner of Climate Transparency, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), organized an event entitled “Decarbonizing India’s road transport sector – Policy and technology options”.
Key discussion points
Barriers impeding the implementation of low carbon technology (LCT) options, primarily the technology, financial, and policy. Strategizing the long term vision action plan for the road transport sector focusing on:
- Emerging technologies (e.g., hydrogen, fuel cells, biofuels, EVs).
- Role of multilateral institutions/development banks in providing access to international markets, finance needs, and international best practices.
- Role of policy in driving the market transformation.
- Capacity building and skill enhancements.
Forum for Decarbonisation of Transport Sector
Recently, the Forum for Decarbonisation of Transport Sector was jointly launched by NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), India. WRI India is an independent charity legally registered as the India Resources Trust, which provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. NITI Aayog serves as an advisory think tank for the government and is chaired by the Prime Minister. It replaced the Planning Commission. The forum launched by NITI Aayog and WRI aims to create a platform to initiate dialogues for the development of uniform policies and help achieve specific results in reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector by promoting electric vehicles.
Key Points – The forum is a part of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) project, which focuses on developing a coherent strategy of effective policies and forming a multi-stakeholder platform for decarbonizing transport in the region.
Need – India has a massive and diverse transport sector, the third most CO2 emitting sector.
Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), 2020 and the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, 2018 suggest that road transport contributes to more than 90% of the total CO2 emissions within the transport sector.
Related Initiatives
- FAME Scheme:
It is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan. Its main thrust is to encourage electric vehicles by providing subsidies.
- Incentives under PLI Scheme:
Last year the scheme was rolled out for various industries, including an outlay of over Rs. 5700 crore for the automobile and auto-component industry over five years. Around Rs.18,000 crore was approved to develop advanced cell chemistry battery storage manufacturing. These incentives further encourage the indigenous development of Electric Vehicles (EVs) to bring down their upfront cost.
- Renewable Automotive Industry:
India is currently building a domestic renewable automotive industry to become the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturing and supplying hub.
Conclusion
India is the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, and its national actions will significantly impact the reduction of persisting emissions. At present, India accounts for a significant multimodal road transport sector contributing approximately 10% of the country’s total CO2 emissions, making it the second most carbon-emitting sector. Further growth in transport emissions will also exacerbate air pollution and mortality, placing an increasing strain on the country’s overburdened public health system and increasing traffic congestion. Therefore, the definition of decarbonising transport in India can help to reduce these environmental impacts substantially.
