Indian CEOs discussed and shared the practitioners’ perspective and urgency to drive the de-carbonization agenda during a roundtable webinar organised for Indian industry by TERI. The industry panel discussion with Indian CEOs was moderated by R.R. Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, TERI.
“India has showcased leadership in growth of renewable; however, power sector reforms are crucial for realizing mitigation targets set by country. A good push has come from the Indian government through the International Solar Alliance, but transition to de-carbonized fuels for example, green hydrogen, biofuels, and bio-resources would be crucial for India’s energy needs. This will be a game changer and a huge amount of capital allocation is needed for this,” said R. Mukundan, MD, Tata Chemicals.
“By 2030 we need 2.6 trillion dollars. My own estimate broadly is that by 2040 we need more than 6.5 trillion dollars to transform this entire journey and a lot of commitment needs to come from both the public and private sector,” Mukundan added. “Advocacy would play a key role and also we need to think about what can be done in a collaborative way for pushing more energy transition, e-mobility, and carbon capture, utilization and storage,” said Mahendra Singhi, MD & CEO, Dalmia Cement (Bharat).
Amit Sharma, MD of Tata Consulting Engineers reiterated that importance of material circularity to be integral part of industrial roadmap especially for cement, steel, automotative to chemicals. Rethink, Rewire and Realign processes to be used to connect the old and the new by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI technologies), digital platforms and Industry 4.0 approaches for designing low carbon pathways.
In her remarks, Dr Vibha Dhawan, director general, TERI, said that the industry charter has emerged as a platform for leadership and for driving action to de-carbonize industry sectors in a coordinated and integrated manner.“I personally feel that we are left with no alternative than to move towards near zero emissions as we are already witnessing extremes of temperature, precipitation, and even diseases to some extent, at the global level,” she said.
