India

India ranks 23rd and is among the medium-performing countries in this year’s CCPI. The country earns a medium in GHG Emissions, Climate Policy, and Energy Use, and a low in Renewable Energy.

India is signalling its long-term intent on climate action, with a formal strategy and ambitious renewable energy targets, alongside established efficiency programmes, such as Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) appliance labelling since 2006 and the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) mechanism for industry since 2012. The country has accelerated renewable energy deployment through auctions and fiscal tools, and the CCPI country experts note record auction participation and continuously falling tariffs. In 2025, India reported reaching 50% of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources ahead of the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) target. The experts make favourable mention of the work on green finance taxonomy and a national carbon market framework.

Coal dependence remains an obstacle despite strong long-term climate intent

At the same time, the national pathway is still anchored in coal. There is no national coal exit timeline and new coal blocks continue to be auctioned. Fossil subsidies and infrastructure lock-ins persist.  The country is among the 10 countries with the largest developed coal reserves, and it currently plans to increase its production. The experts also criticise the uneven and weak carbon price signals. As of September 2025, India’s total solar rooftop capacity was 20.8 GW with nearly 9 GW added in the last year, and made up around 17% of total solar installations. However, the experts criticise that large grid-scale renewable projects have triggered land conflicts, displacement, and water stress, reflecting top-down, non-inclusive siting. Several reported incidents involve human rights violations and ecosystem degradation.

India’s updated NDC commits to 50% non-fossil capacity by 2030 and a 45% emissions-intensity cut compared with 2005, but the experts note that the 2070 net-zero goal is not aligned with 1.5°C pathways. They also highlight the missing interim milestones for 2035 and 2040, respectively, sectoral trajectories and state-level accountability, and limited, non-inclusive consultation with civil society and communities affected.

Domestic fossil fuel activity undermines good international credibility

Internationally, India defends equity with Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) and leads multilateral initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance (ISA), but the experts point out that domestic fossil fuel expansion undermines credibility.

The experts recommend a time-bound coal phase-down and eventually a phase-out – these include setting a no-new-coal date and a peak coal year. They also recommend redirecting fossil subsidies toward decentralised, community-owned renewable energy. They advise strengthening the social and environmental safeguards for renewable energy siting. They also mention the need for more coherent biomass accounting and constraining woody biomass by strict sustainability criteria. They advise establishing binding roadmaps for fossil phase-out in sectors such as transport, buildings, and industrial, with interim sectoral and state-level milestones for 2035 and 2040. They also mention the importance of a just transition and the co-design with affected regions as a priority. And they stress the importance of expanding risk-buffer tools and prioritising smallholders, women, and vulnerable communities regarding access to finance and resilience support.

Key Outcomes

CCPI experts

The following national experts agreed to be mentioned as contributors for this year’s CCPI:

• Myron Mendes (INECC)
• Ranjan Panda (Combat Climate Change)
• D.Raghunandan (All India Peoples Science Network)
• Nakul Sharma