Research and Ground Report

Just Energy Transition in Coal Districts of India Assessing differential vulnerability and pathways for intervention Chinmayi Shalya, Ishita Kapoor, Sandeep Pai, Tikam Singh Banjara Summary The Ministry of Coal in 2024 acknowledged that India has 341 ‘abandoned/discontinued’ coal mines, of which 147 will have to be closed. In January 2025, the ‘Guidelines for preparation of […]

Beyond Trade-offs Integrated Financing Approaches for Just Transition in Global Textiles Souhard Sharma and Bhavayta Mahajan Summary As the global textile industry faces mounting pressure to decarbonize, the challenge lies in ensuring that the shift toward sustainability does not come at the cost of livelihoods. This article explores how innovative financing mechanisms, blending public, private, […]

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS AND ENERGY TRANSITION (Tipping or Turning Point) Dr. Prashant Malik, Gargee Priyadarshini and Dr. Shivaprakash K.N. Summary Climate change is intensifying global hazards such as rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, sea level rise, and more frequent extreme weather events that pose profound risks to both the energy transition and electricity security. While driving […]

DISCOMs Renewable Energy Transition: Challenges, Opportunities and Way Forward Gargee Priyadarshini, Shivaprakash K Nagaraju Summary India has the third-largest and one of the most complex power sectors in the world, which brings in a unique set of challenges and opportunities in transitioning to clean energy.  India’s target of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel installed capacity […]

A Climate Blindspot? Coal Mine Methane in South Africa Nicola Wills, Brett Cohen, Jennifer Broadhurst, Jesse Burton, Joey James, Sandeep Pai Summary   In 2024, global temperatures crossed the 1.5°C threshold above pre-industrial levels, underscoring the urgency of rapid climate action. Methane, with 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, […]

Designing Backwards: Why a Just Transition Demands a ‘Labour-First’ Approach Souhard Sharma Designing Backwards: Why a Just Transition Demands a ‘Labour-First’ Approach interrogates the prevailing approach to just transitions, revealing how climate policies are often framed as environmental reforms with incidental labour impacts; when in practice, they drive labour market transformations. The analysis outlines a […]

The Drifting Island: India’s Epic Geological Journey and Its Wild Legacy Shivaprakash K Nagaraju India’s incredible biodiversity is not just a result of geography, it’s a story written over 160 million years. Once part of the supercontinent Gondwana, the Indian landmass broke away and began an extraordinary 9,000 km journey northwards. During this drift, it […]

THE 21st CENTURY SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA: And the Lessons and Opportunities for India Siddhant Chandra and Priyanka Lohia “The 21st Century Scramble for Africa” critically examines the global political economy of critical minerals, highlighting how value is disproportionately extracted from the Global South while refining and strategic control remain concentrated in the Global North. Drawing […]

Navigating the Shift: Optimizing India’s Vehicle Energy Efficiency Testing for a Sustainable Future Anjali Gandhi As India moves toward a more energy-efficient and sustainable transport system, the methods used to test vehicle performance must also evolve. This report explores the current landscape of vehicle fuel efficiency testing in India and examines why it’s time to […]

ROLE OF PARLIAMENTARIANS IN SHAPING AMBITIOUS NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS Sandeep Pai, Siddhant Chandra, Aaratrica Kashyap, Vidyapati Bajpai, Kumar Abhishek Executive Summary As we approach COP 30 in Brazil in 2025, this pivotal moment presents an opportunity to enhance the ambition of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) through strategic global engagement. At the heart of these efforts […]

India’s Escalating Heatwave Crisis: Analysis of Heat Action Plan of 3 States Bhavayta Mahajan, Ritika Negi On February 25, 2025, Goa and Maharashtra recorded India’s first heatwave of the year, marking the first time a heatwave has occurred during the winter season (January–February) as defined by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). This unusual event sent […]

CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency/ Economy) Norms in India Anjali Gandhi CAFE standards represent a crucial regulatory tool employed by governments globally. They compel automotive manufacturers not just to produce some efficient vehicles but to ensure that the average fuel efficiency across their entire fleet of newly manufactured and sold vehicles meets a progressively stringent […]

Critical Minerals and Strategic Sovereignty: Need for a Mineral-wise Strategy for India Siddhant Chandra and Larina Mahajan According to the Ministry of Mines , “critical minerals” are defined as those minerals which are essential for economic development and national security, the lack of availability of these minerals or even concentration of existence, extraction or processing […]

Redefining State-Owned Enterprises in the Era of Energy Transition Sandeep Pai, Chinmayi Shalya, Rishi Kishore, Ishita Kapoor, Sankalp Arpit About the Event To achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius, State-Owned Enterprises (SoEs) must play a central role in rapidly decarbonizing the energy sector. SoEs, which control […]

Just Transition and Economic Diversification of Jharkhand’s Coal Heartland: Ground-up Studies from Ramgarh and Bokaro   Kishore, Pai, Pande, Kanjilal, Singh, Singh, & Ram | 2025   [Click to read the full report]    About the report As the world is moving towards a net zero future, a prerequisite for meeting the 1.5-degree climate target, coal phase-down […]

Methane Emissions in India’s Energy Sector: Current Landscape and Future Prospects   Vidyapati Bajpai, Joey James, Sandeep Pai | 2025   [Click to read the full report]    About the report Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, with a warming potential over 80 times that of carbon dioxide over a two-decade period. Reducing methane […]

The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 Aaratrica Kashyap and Shefali Sharan | December 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary Historically when Railways was introduced to India under the Colonial rule, it was governed as a part of the Public Works Department (PWD) In 1890, for the first time, the Indian Railways Act came […]

The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 Siddhant Chandra and Souhard Sharam | December 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary India’s disaster management framework evolved from the colonial-era Famine Codes and relief-centric approaches, where states held primary responsibility with minimal central intervention. The 1990s marked a pivotal shift during the UN’s International Decade […]

The Coastal Shipping Bill, 2024 Bhavayta Mahajan and Larina Mahajan | December 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary The Coastal Shipping Bill, 2024 was approved by the Union Cabinet. The Bill aims to simplify and modernize regulations in India’s coastal shipping sector. This Bill aims to enable the statutory imposition of specific […]

The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2024 Souhard Sharma and Larina Mahajan | December 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary The Merchant Shipping Bill, 2024, represents a significant legislative initiative to modernize India’s maritime regulatory framework. This legislation aims to supersede two existing statutes: the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (Act No. 44 of 1958) […]

The Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2024 Priyanka Lohia and Bhavayta Mahajan | December 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary The Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2024, was introduced in Lok Sabha on 9th August, 2024. It aims to replace the Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925 which […]

The Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill, 2024 Siddhant Chandra and Ritika Negi | December 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary India is the fastest growing civil aviation market in the world. It is currently the 3rd largest in the domestic market segment. In the last decade, the number of aircrafts is India has […]

Just Transition Pathways for a Net-Zero Telangana Case Studies from the Coal-Dependent Districts of Peddapalli and Mancherial Deeksha Pande, Sandeep Pai, Rishi Kishore, Sriram Kolasani, Sai Chandra R | December 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary As the world moves towards a net zero future–a prerequisite for limiting the rise in average […]

Green hydrogen has the potential to play a vital role in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors like steel and cement, which are otherwise difficult to electrify

Economic Diversification of Coal Communities: Case Studies from the U.S. and India Ian Barlow, Sandeep Pai, Rishi Kishore, Deeksha Pande | September 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary Coal production and consumption are under pressure worldwide. This pressure is largely due to the need to address climate change, or concerns about coal’s […]

Mapping the Evolution of Parliamentary Conversations on Air Pollution: A Focus on India’s National Clean Air Program and Electric Vehicles Kumar Abhishek, Bhavayta Mahajan, Monal Singh [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary

Lead Exposure and Public Health in India: A comprehensive Analysis and the Imperative Role of Members of Parliament (MPs) Anjali Gandhi, Arjun Dutt, Gargee Priyadarshini, Ureeda Rafiqi | June 2024 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary This comprehensive study aims to analyse the multifaceted dimensions of lead exposure and its impact on public […]

Mapping the Evolution of Parliamentary Conversations on Air Pollution: A Focus on India’s National Clean Air Program and Electric Vehicles Bhavayta Mahajan, Monal Singh, Dr. Sandeep Pai | May 2023 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary Global and India-focused literature on air pollution has largely emphasized measuring air pollution and understanding technical ways […]

Just Transition Planning for Fossil Fuel-Dependent Regions: A Framework for Economic Diversification Deeksha Pande, Sandeep Pai, Rishi Kishore | November 2023 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary The planet has already warmed by over 1o C over pre-industrial levels and is causing severe weather events around the world. In 2022, there were at […]

Planning for Net Zero: Business Diversification Strategies for Fossil Fuel Companies Riddhi Kankaria, Sandeep Pai | November 2023 [Click to read the full report] Executive Summary Nearly 1,000 companies including major fossil fuel producers around the world have pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Achieving these targets would require companies to diversify their businesses […]