India urged to lead with home-grown green tech, not copy West’s energy models

India could slash 36.9 GW of energy demand by ramping up renewables, electrifying key sectors, and adopting biomass-based carbon capture, said IIT-Jodhpur Director Avinash Kumar Agarwal on Tuesday.

Speaking at the ‘Energy Dialogues: Clean. Viable. Inclusive’ workshop hosted by CSIR-NEERI in Nagpur, Agarwal underscored the urgency of enhancing energy efficiency to sustain India’s economic growth.

“Energy consumption is directly tied to economic growth,” Agarwal said, noting India’s relatively low per capita emissions. Citing the country’s Panchamrit climate commitments, he called attention to India’s target of 500 GW of non-fossil energy by 2030, while highlighting the continued dominance of coal—400 million tonnes annually—and the need for cleaner coal technologies and hydrogen solutions.

Agarwal urged Indian scientists to focus on developing green fuels for internal combustion engines to foster a more inclusive energy transition.

NEERI Director S Venkata Mohan echoed that sentiment, stating energy access must be treated as a basic right. “India must chart its own low-emission growth path, rather than blindly emulating Western models,” added NEERI Chief Scientist Nitin Labhsetwar.

In a later session chaired by Agarwal, scientists discussed NEERI’s real-world sustainability initiatives—ranging from advanced carbon capture systems to integrated solar-biomass hybrid energy models aimed at rural deployment.

“These are not lab experiments,” said NEERI’s Chief Scientist Amit Bansiwal, who laid out the institute’s vision to embed sustainability across entire product life cycles. Principal Scientist Avneesh Anshul emphasized partnerships with industry to scale clean technologies nationwide.

S Venkata Mohan called for deeper grassroots innovation to align local solutions with national sustainability goals.

The event concluded with LITU Vice Chancellor Atul Vaidya advocating for a science-driven future that balances environmental stewardship with inclusive development.