Assessing the Sustainable Development Impacts of Renewable Power Technologies in India: An Economic Returns Framework

The document introduces an Economic Returns Framework designed to evaluate the sustainable development impacts of renewable energy (RE) in India. By calculating the Economic Rate of Return (ERR), the framework aims to move beyond simple financial analysis to include societal costs and benefits, thereby better informing policy choices and aligning RE targets with sustainable development goals. The paper demonstrates this approach by estimating the ERR for wind, biomass, small hydro, and both ground-mounted and rooftop solar power in India.

• The use of sustainable development impact assessments and Economic Rate of Return (ERR) estimates in decision-making can improve the implementation of renewable energy technologies by optimizing potential benefits and minimizing societal costs, while helping to align RE policies with sustainable development goals.
• Application of the framework to renewable energy technologies in India reveals that economic returns are contingent upon several variables, including the scale of deployment, local context, technology specifications, the availability of reliable data, and the economic value assigned to specific impacts.
• The framework can be applied in regional contexts to provide a nuanced understanding of relative returns, supporting renewable energy planning based on local priorities, costs, technology availability, and socioeconomic and environmental circumstances.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Assessing the Sustainable Development Impacts of Renewable Power Technologies in India: An Economic Returns Framework. https://www.wri.org/research/assessing-sustainable-development-impacts-renewable-power-technologies-india-economic

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Assessing the Sustainable Development Impacts of Renewable Power Technologies in India: An Economic Returns Framework. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/assessing-sustainable-development-impacts-renewable-power-technologies-india-economic.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Assessing the Sustainable Development Impacts of Renewable Power Technologies in India: An Economic Returns Framework |url=https://www.wri.org/research/assessing-sustainable-development-impacts-renewable-power-technologies-india-economic |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendassessing, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Assessing the Sustainable Development Impacts of Renewable Power Technologies in India: An Economic Returns Framework}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/assessing-sustainable-development-impacts-renewable-power-technologies-india-economic}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }