Mapping India's Energy Subsidies 2021: Time for renewed support to clean energy

This report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development examines the distribution of energy subsidies in India from FY 2014 to FY 2020, analyzing the disparity between funding for fossil fuels and clean energy, and providing recommendations for solar manufacturing and public sector undertakings.

• Fossil fuel subsidies in India significantly outweigh clean energy subsidies, a gap that widened between FY 2019 and FY 2020, increasing from 7 times to 7.3 times the amount provided to renewables.
• In FY 2020, subsidies for electricity transmission and distribution represented the largest expenditure at approximately INR 1.3 lakh crore (USD 18.2 billion). During the same year, oil and gas subsidies rose by 16% from FY 2019 to reach INR 55,347 crore (USD 7.8 billion).
• Subsidies for renewable energy in India have declined nearly 45% from their FY 2017 peak, remaining at approximately INR 8,000 crore in FY 2020. Conversely, subsidies for electric vehicles more than doubled since FY 2019, totaling INR 1,141 crore (USD 161 million) in FY 2020.
• Seven major Indian energy public sector undertakings spent INR 22,261 crore (USD 3.1 billion) on fossil fuel projects in FY 2020, which was 11 times the amount they invested in renewable energy projects. The total capital expenditure for these undertakings was INR 1.5 lakh crore (USD 22.4 billion) in FY 2020.
• To support the "Make in India" initiative for domestic solar manufacturing, the report identifies three requirements: demand-side certainty to trigger expansion, the development of healthy manufacturing ecosystems by states, and the combination of fiscal incentives with research and development to improve competitiveness.

APA

,, B. V. ,. V. A. N. G. B. S. S. B. G. ,. D. G. (2021). Mapping India's Energy Subsidies 2021: Time for renewed support to clean energy. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/publications/mapping-india-energy-subsidies-2021

Chicago

,, Balasubramanian Viswanathan ,Anjali Viswamohanan,Prateek Aggarwal,Danwant Narayanaswamy,Anna Geddes,Theresia Betty Sumarno,Max Schmidt,Christopher Beaton,Siddharth Goel ,Arjun Dutt,Karthik Ganesan. Mapping India's Energy Subsidies 2021: Time for renewed support to clean energy. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/publications/mapping-india-energy-subsidies-2021.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=, |first1=Balasubramanian Viswanathan ,Anjali Viswamohanan,Prateek Aggarwal,Danwant Narayanaswamy,Anna Geddes,Theresia Betty Sumarno,Max Schmidt,Christopher Beaton,Siddharth Goel ,Arjun Dutt,Karthik Ganesan |title=Mapping India's Energy Subsidies 2021: Time for renewed support to clean energy |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=14 July 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/publications/mapping-india-energy-subsidies-2021 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{2021mapping, author = {,, Balasubramanian Viswanathan ,Anjali Viswamohanan,Prateek Aggarwal,Danwant Narayanaswamy,Anna Geddes,Theresia Betty Sumarno,Max Schmidt,Christopher Beaton,Siddharth Goel ,Arjun Dutt,Karthik Ganesan}, title = {{Mapping India's Energy Subsidies 2021: Time for renewed support to clean energy}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = jul, url = {https://www.iisd.org/publications/mapping-india-energy-subsidies-2021}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }