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The report examines India's strategic position in the electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain, identifying opportunities in mineral processing and cell manufacturing. It analyzes key investment drivers—such as guaranteed demand, infrastructure, and policy incentives—and evaluates India's comparative advantages, including low labor costs and a strong chemical sector, against challenges like critical mineral dependency and the need for more upfront capital subsidies to attract multinational firms.

This executive summary describes the States’ Electricity Transition (SET) Scoring system developed by Ember to evaluate the electricity transition across 16 Indian states, which represent 90% of India's annual power requirement. The analysis focuses on four dimensions: decarbonisation, power system performance, power ecosystem readiness, and policies and political commitments. While some states like Karnataka show strong performance across all metrics, others, particularly Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, require significant improvements in decarbonisation and system performance to meet national targets.

The document outlines strategies for implementing decentralized solar power plants in India's agriculture sector via the PM-KUSUM scheme. It addresses the distinct objectives of Component A (farmer income) and Component C (feeder-level solarization), while analyzing the water-energy-food nexus to prevent groundwater depletion. Key recommendations include reducing investment risks through 'deemed generation clauses', utilizing 'land banks' to facilitate developer-landowner interactions, and refining tariff calculations to reflect the higher O&M costs of small-scale plants. The guide also highlights the 'Paani Bachao Paisa Kamao' (PBPK) scheme in Punjab as a model for using direct cash incentives to encourage water conservation and discusses the potential of agrivoltaics to balance food and energy production.

As of August 2022, India had installed 116 GW of renewable energy, achieving 66% of its 175 GW target for December 2022. While solar power is driving growth, with 9.8 GW installed between January and August 2022, wind energy installations have slowed. Progress is highly uneven across states; Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Karnataka have met their 2022 targets, while Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh account for 61% of the national target shortfall. To reach the 2030 target of 450 GW, India must increase its monthly installation rate to 3.7 GW, which is 2.5 times the average rate seen in the first eight months of 2022.

The report examines India's transition to electric mobility, highlighting the success of demand-side incentives like FAME II for two- and three-wheelers. It identifies critical investment gaps in charging infrastructure and battery manufacturing, while discussing the potential of battery swapping and the risks posed by global supply chain dependencies on China and other mineral-rich nations. The analysis emphasizes the need for binding targets, improved consumer financing, and workforce retraining to ensure a competitive and just transition.

The document identifies fuel subsidies as the most significant form of government support for India's marine fisheries, accounting for an estimated 32% of total support in FY 2019. These subsidies, provided exclusively by state governments, primarily benefit larger-scale operations and risk increasing fishing efforts beyond sustainable levels. The brief highlights regional variations among focus states—Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu—and suggests that India's experience with broader fossil fuel subsidy reforms, such as phased price hikes and providing clean alternatives, can inform the transition toward more sustainable support for small-scale fishers.

As of March 2022, India had installed 110 GW of renewable energy (RE) capacity, representing 63% of its 175 GW target for December 2022. Progress is highly uneven across states; while Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Andaman and Nicobar have surpassed their targets, 27 states and union territories have achieved less than 50% of their goals. Five states—Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu—account for two-thirds of the national shortfall. Recent growth has been heavily concentrated in Rajasthan and Gujarat, which together provided 73% of new RE capacity between October 2021 and March 2022. To meet the 2030 target of 450 GW RE, India requires an average annual addition of 42.5 GW.

The report documents a 43% increase in Indian government support for marine fisheries between FY 2016 and FY 2019, totaling at least INR 2,225 crore. It identifies fuel support, income support, and support for deep-sea fishing, mariculture, and vessel modernization as priority areas for impact assessment to prevent overexploitation and ensure sustainable development.

The document outlines a framework for the sustainable deployment of solar irrigation in India, focusing on the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. It provides detailed guidance across five key areas: inter-departmental coordination, financing and affordability, beneficiary targeting, infrastructure support, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The guide emphasizes the need to protect groundwater resources, support small and marginal farmers, and transition away from high-subsidy models through innovative financing and ownership structures.

The report identifies a 43% increase in government support for Indian marine fisheries between FY 2016 and FY 2019, reaching at least INR 2,225 crore (USD 316 million). It highlights that fuel subsidies are the most significant support measure, growing 142% in the same period. The analysis emphasizes that while income support is vital for the high percentage of fishers living below the poverty line, input-based subsidies for fuel and vessel modernization risk encouraging overcapacity and overfishing. The report recommends a comprehensive evaluation of these high-risk measures and improved data transparency to align support with the National Fisheries Policy 2020 and Sustainable Development Goal 14.

The report identifies 27 GW of planned coal power plants in India as "zombie" assets that are superfluous to the country's electricity requirements for FY 2030. It argues that India can meet both aggregate and peak demand growth through its existing construction pipeline and the expansion of renewable energy (RE) and battery storage. The analysis suggests that cancelling these projects would save Rs. 247,421 crore in capital expenditure and potentially reduce annual power purchase costs by Rs. 43,219 crore. The report warns that building these plants would lock consumers into expensive contracts, create stranded assets, and jeopardize India's target of 450 GW of RE by 2030.

The Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka, India, utilized a land-leasing model to secure 13,000 acres for a 2,000 MW facility, providing stable income to 2,300 landowners while avoiding the bureaucratic delays of land purchase. Despite contributing to national renewable energy targets, the project has faced significant challenges, including insufficient water planning for panel cleaning in a drought-prone region, a failure to deliver promised local employment and social infrastructure, and the marginalization of non-land-owning pastoralists.

The study examines the impact of clean cooking interventions on fuelwood sourcing in Kullu and Koppal, India, finding that the reduction of forest dependence varies by location and is influenced by demand, resource substitutability, and socio-economic factors.

The Land Accelerator South Asia program, launched by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in 2020, supports entrepreneurs developing business models to restore degraded lands. The 2021 cohort grew to 58 entrepreneurs, with women's participation increasing from 13% in 2020 to 31% in 2021. The program provides mentorship, grants, and connections to impact investors to scale solutions in sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, and agritech. This booklet highlights eleven specific startups, detailing their technological solutions—such as AI-based weeding robots, drone-based precision agriculture, and bio-economic waste conversion—and their reported socio-economic and environmental impacts, including increased farmer incomes and carbon sequestration.

Karnataka holds 22% of India's total installed electricity capacity and the highest solar capacity in the country (7.3GW as of 2019). However, the document asserts that capacity growth alone is insufficient; market reforms are needed to increase supply and demand flexibility to ensure a low-carbon system is more cost-effective than the current energy mix.

The document investigates how Karnataka can manage its increasing flexibility needs—driven by high solar and wind capacity—through a portfolio of demand-side measures, energy storage, and powerplant operational changes. It argues that a balanced portfolio of these options can reduce system costs by up to 10% and carbon emissions by up to 35% by 2030, potentially making new coal capacity redundant. Key recommendations include amending grid codes to allow cost recovery for flexible thermal operations, completing agricultural feeder separation, and developing a 'data mission' to support locational pricing and market design.

The document examines the financial crisis facing India's electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs), which were already struggling with high costs and poor billing before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused a catastrophic drop in power demand, further reducing revenues while fixed costs for coal and older renewable energy remained. While the central government provided a stimulus package of INR 90,000 crore and expanded borrowing limits, the document argues these measures do not address root causes. It recommends improving metering and billing, better targeting of subsidies, adjusting fixed-cost billing components, and renegotiating power purchase agreements to better allocate risk across the supply chain.

The document details the financial distress caused by COVID-19 in India's electricity sector, specifically the revenue losses of DISCOMs and the payment delays affecting power producers. It outlines a stimulus package of INR 90,000 crore for DISCOMs and lists specific loan terms from PFC-REC, including a 10-year loan period and requirements for digital payment and smart meter installation. The briefing also highlights best practices in billing and collection adopted by states like Odisha, Gujarat, Bihar, and Rajasthan to mitigate losses.

The report argues that flexibility needs in India's electricity system are growing faster than energy demand, particularly under high renewable energy scenarios. It finds that a balanced portfolio of demand-side flexibility, powerplant upgrades, and energy storage can reduce total system costs by 5% to 8% and carbon emissions by 8% to 12% compared to a base case. The analysis highlights regional disparities, noting that states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu face higher curtailment risks, and emphasizes the need for updated market designs, business models, and infrastructure to unlock these flexibility options.

The report argues that India's flexibility needs are growing faster than its energy demand, which could impede the deployment of renewable energy if not addressed. It identifies three primary flexibility resources: demand-side response (e.g., agricultural pumping, air conditioning, and industrial loads), improved thermal and hydroelectric powerplant operations, and energy storage (specifically lithium-ion batteries and pumped hydro). The analysis demonstrates that a 'balanced portfolio' combining these resources can reduce total system electricity costs by 5% to 8% and carbon emissions by 8% to 12% compared to a base case. Regional analysis shows that states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu face more acute ramping and seasonal flexibility challenges due to high solar and wind penetration, while Uttar Pradesh could potentially export flexibility. The report concludes that achieving these goals requires significant reforms in market design, data collection, infrastructure, and business models.