India’s patchy industrial climate strategy, Pg13

Key Highlights:

• India's industrial sector contributed over 20% of the nation's total emissions in 2022, as detailed in the First Biennial Transparency Report (BTR1).
• Fuel consumption in manufacturing and construction accounted for 13% of total emissions, with industrial processes and product use adding another 9%.
• Government initiatives like the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme and the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) target energy-intensive industries for emission reduction.
• A significant policy gap exists, as over 40% of industrial emissions originate from "non-specific industries" not adequately covered by current mitigation schemes.
• This oversight poses a challenge to India's ambitious goals of Make-in-India, Viksit Bharat (2047), and achieving net-zero emissions (2070).

Industrial emission gap.png

Detailed Insights:

• The First Biennial Transparency Report (BTR1) was submitted by India to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), outlining national emissions.
• The PAT scheme aims to reduce specific energy consumption across 13 energy-intensive industries, promoting energy efficiency.
• The CCTS is transitioning from PAT, focusing on reducing the emission intensity of nine specific industrial sectors, including cement and iron & steel.
• Four sectors, namely thermal power plants, railways, DISCOMs, and commercial buildings, will continue to operate under the PAT scheme.
• Data from NITI Aayog’s India Climate and Energy Dashboard consistently shows a large portion of industrial emissions under the "non-specific industries" category.
• Addressing this policy gap requires disaggregated data and precise identification of sub-sectors within "non-specific industries" to align industrial growth with decarbonisation efforts.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Make-in-India: A government initiative launched in 2014 to encourage domestic and foreign companies to manufacture their products in India.
• Viksit Bharat (2047): India's vision to become a developed nation by 2047, marking 100 years of independence.
• Net-zero emissions: Achieving a balance between the amount of greenhouse gases emitted and the amount removed from the atmosphere.
• Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme: A market-based mechanism under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency to improve energy efficiency in energy-intensive industries.
• Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS): A new market-based mechanism designed to reduce the emission intensity of specific industrial sectors.
• Biennial Transparency Report (BTR): A report submitted by countries to the UNFCCC detailing their climate actions, policies, and emissions.
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): An international environmental treaty established in 1992 to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.