TERI and We Mean Business Coalition Launch India’s 2035 Climate Target
A Business Opportunity for Growth and Global Leadership to align Industry with India’s 2035 climate goals
New Delhi, July 1, 2025: As India prepares to submit its updated national climate plan, known as the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the We Mean Business Coalition (WMBC) unveiled a joint brief titled India’s 2035 Climate Target: A Business Opportunity for Growth and Global Leadership in New Delhi. This framework contextualizes the We Mean Business Coalition’s 2024 global Call to Action for India’s development priorities and adaptation needs.
Initiative calls on government to harness business momentum and shape a climate policy framework aligned with India’s development goals ahead of COP30
The brief underscores the growing leadership of India’s private sector in achieving climate goals, especially in helping meet the national targets of reducing emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 from 2005 levels and achieving 50% of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources. It advocates stronger business-government collaboration and calls for mobilisation of both public and private capital for climate-resilient growth. It also recognizes that stronger, forward-looking climate targets—grounded in current technological progress and real-world business progress—can offer a practical and investible pathway for future climate ambition. This balanced pathway underscores India’s ability to pursue development and climate-related objectives, as the world looks to COP30 for renewed ambition in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
While national targets provide the overarching direction, the brief emphasizes that real progress will depend on clear, sector-specific policy strategies. Long-term policy direction backed by clear targets and consistent policies helps businesses commit and invest confidently in clean energy transitions. India’s next national climate target or NDC is an opportunity for building upon India’s ongoing progress while harnessing the dynamism of the private sector that is already advancing in its clean energy transition.
The brief further highlights India’s unique opportunity to become a global hub for low-carbon solutions across renewable energy, electric mobility, bioeconomy, green hydrogen and other key decarbonisation technologies. With a growing innovation ecosystem, strong manufacturing base, and a skilled technical workforce, India is well placed to tap into the burgeoning global green economy.
It also acknowledges current challenges, such as policy uncertainty, finance barriers, lack of planning and implementation capacity at state level as well as for smaller industries, amongst others. The brief recommends policy predictability backed by sector-specific targets and roadmaps, planning and creating pipelines of investible projects, deepening government and business collaboration, amongst others.
Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General, TERI, delivered the opening remarks and stressed the urgency of industry participation in climate action. “The launch of the policy brief is timely and important as the country moves forward with its NDC targets. We look forward to the suggestions from the industry sectors to bridge the gap between ambition and on-ground implementation. We should be the champions of India and help the domestic as well as the global players by developing roadmap to cater to the sectors,” she highlighted.
Mr RR Rashmi, Distinguished Fellow, TERI, commenting on the brief, emphasized the importance of policy clarity and finance readiness. “We are at acritical stage, where it is important to understand what businesses expect so that growth oriented low carbon policies can be drafted in tune with our potential and opportunities.” “India’s performance has been considerable amongst the top five G20 countries. The Indian industries have proved worthy of the expectation the government has of them. Therefore, there is a requirement for a strong collaboration between the businesses, government and other stakeholders,” he further added. He described the document as a sector-specific, actionable roadmap that aligns private sector priorities with national climate objectives, while also unlocking co-benefits, such as technology upgrades, operational efficiency, and long-term competitiveness.
India’s growing global influence as a representative of the Global South adds weight to its climate commitments. The brief frames India’s pathway as not only a national strategy, but a replicable model for other emerging economies seeking to integrate development with sustainability. India’s G20 momentum, and the upcoming BRICS and COP30 platforms offer an opportunity to anchor climate ambition within broader national goals and showcase its next NDC as a blueprint that aligns them with private sector potential.
Mr Andrew Prag, Managing Director – Policy, WMBC, underlined the global relevance of India’s approach and the role of enabling conditions. “India’s private sector is already demonstrating real leadership in clean energy and innovation. Further unleashing this dynamism requires an ambitious 2035 climate target backed by stable, sector-specific policies. This will give businesses the long-term confidence to scale investment, unlock green jobs, and drive India’s global competitiveness.” He reaffirmed WMBC’s commitment to supporting implementable and investible climate strategies tailored to local contexts.
Senior business leaders and policy experts present at the launch echoed the brief’s urgency and relevance.
Dr Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, in his special address remarked, “As regulator and facilitator we have partnered with businesses and seen that the industries in the energy sector have taken the targets to a tremendous level of competency. It is encouraging to see that India is the only G20 country well within target towards achieving the targets set during the Paris Agreement. Hence, we need to develop the climate target to address the climate crisis.”
During the interactive session, Mr Dhiraj Kumar Srivastava, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Power, Government of India and Nominee Director, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd added, “As representatives of fast changing and developing sector which comprises of electricity ad energy sector as a whole, we feel buildings and the cooling sector also should be a part of the policy brief, particularly with the government’s focus on the cooling action plan.”
Ms Manjari Chaturvedi, Chief Engineer, Clean Energy and Energy Transitions, Central Electricity Authority noted, “The next NDC will be decided on the capacity of renewable energy (RE) in the power sector and the storage capacity. Storage facility should be there to reduce the curtailment of power in addition to providing power during the non-RE hours.” “Integration, storage and capacity building needs to be done to achieve the targets,” she added.
The brief titled: ‘India’s 2035 Climate Target: A Business Opportunity for Growth and Global Leadership’ outlines a roadmap for aligning industrial efforts with India’s net-zero ambition. It highlights key national missions including FAME, PM E-DRIVE, and the National Green Hydrogen Mission, and advocates for using tools like the CCTS, green taxonomy and sector-relevant goals to accelerate transition in high-emission sectors.
As India develops its next NDC, this briefing stresses the importance of institutionalizing business participation, not just as implementers, but as co-creators of climate ambition. A well-designed, ambitious NDC can provide the long-term policy certainty that businesses require to plan large-scale investments, reduce risk, and stay globally competitive. This marks a pivotal step in converting India’s climate vision into measurable outcomes, powered by strong public-private partnerships and real-economy momentum.
Access the joint brief here: https://teriin.org/policy-brief/indias-2035-climate-target-business-opportunity-growth-and-global-leadership