India Announces NDC 3.0, Focuses on Emission Cut and Clean Energy

India’s cabinet has approved the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) for the period 2031 to 2035 after months of delay, at a time when geopolitical conflict in West Asia disrupted the global energy supply chains and exposed the cost of fossil fuel dependence. 

Key Targets Under NDC 3.0

The new framework sets the target of 47% reduction in emissions intensity, expanding non-fossil power capacity to 60%, and raising the carbon sink target to 4 billion tonnes by 2035. India has already met key targets five years before its 2030 deadline, including surpassing the 50% target installed non-fossil power capacity.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Railways and Information and Broadcasting Minister, speaking on 60% non-fossil capacity target said, “This can be achieved easily since we’ve already achieved 52% at present.” 

He added, “Between 2005 and 2020, India reduced 36% in emission intensity of GDP, over 50% of India’s installed power capacity is from clean, non-fossil sources, and the country has also created 2.3 billion tonnes of carbon sink through forests and trees.”

India’s Central Electricity Authority projected that nearly 70% of the electricity capacity will be from non-fossil sources by 2035-36, above the 60% target committed under the UN framework. However, India’s power generated from non-fossil sources remained at 16.6% excluding large hydropower, according to the central electricity authority. 

“At a time when conflict and energy security concerns are pulling countries away from climate commitments, India’s new NDCs send an important signal. A targeted 60% share of non-fossil electricity capacity in 2035 suggests that while India has raised its ambition to decarbonise the power sector, it is also doubling down on energy security and affordability for hundreds of millions of its citizens. It is important to note that India's power markets are rapidly evolving. If that trajectory is maintained and supply chain disruptions ease, we estimate that India will exceed its target, as it has repeatedly done in the past,” said Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO at Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Additional Qualitative Commitments 

Apart from these three key targets, the government has also announced five qualitative targets, including climate-friendly and cleaner economic development pathways, resilient infrastructure to adapt to climate change in various sectors, lifestyle for environment, mobilising domestic, and new and additional finance from developed countries, and capacity building and research and development. 

India Paving the Way for BRICS 2026

India’s presidency of BRICS in 2026 will focus on climate-resilient infrastructure, green industrial pathways, low-cost green finance, and advanced R&D, signalling that supply chain resilience and decarbonisation are, in India's framing, the same agenda.

“At a time when the world order stands diminished, and when there is little traction for climate -- which seems to have lost its standing as a global public good -- it is good to see that India is staying on track. And given that India is the BRICS chair, this announcement probably paves the way for a BRICS-led climate action. It is evident that the West is not going to lead on climate. And India is showing that the leadership now needs to come from large developing countries. And this announcement is a clear sign of that leadership,” said Dhruba Purkayastha, Consultant , Standing Committee on Finance, UNFCCC; Visiting Professor, Grantham Research Institute; Adviser - Energy & Climate, ORF. 

“In the ambition of the new NDCs, the carbon emissions goal is now 47%. This is not very optimistic, at least from the mitigation perspective,” said Labanya Jena, Director at Climate and Sustainability Initiative. “Taking into account India’s current technical and financial capacities and its reliance on imported technologies, the government is likely being cautious about these commitments.”