India's revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) comes at a time when the country can point to genuine, measurable progress. India has set a target of generating 60% of its electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources. It has already achieved its current 50% target by 2030, five full years ahead of schedule.

It is also on course to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity.

As per the updated target, by enhancing the tree and forest cover by 2035, the country will create a carbon sink between 3.5 billion tonnes and 4 billion tonnes. 

The most striking aspect of these developments is that the gains were achieved without additional international financial support, indicating that developing economies can accomplish ambitious climate targets even if the promised climate finance fails to materialise.

Growth First, Transition Second

At the philosophical core of India's climate strategy lies a deliberate sequencing: development-led energy transition, not transition-led development. India refuses to sacrifice economic growth, and the poverty reduction that depends on it, at the altar of decarbonisation.

Instead, it is pursuing a diversified energy mix spanning renewable power, green hydrogen, nuclear, and bioenergy.

India is simultaneously scaling renewable electricity capacity, accelerating electric vehicle adoption, tightening energy efficiency standards across industries, and working towards making its vast network of small and medium-sized enterprises greener.

Indian Railways has set its own net-zero target for 2030. A domestic carbon market is in development, an instrument that could channel private capital towards cleaner technologies at scale.

India has also championed "Lifestyle for Environment", a call for consumption choices that are lighter on the planet, implicitly challenging the high-consumption model that has driven emissions in wealthy countries for generations.

Coal Conundrum

No account of India's climate ambitions can sidestep the question of coal, and India's NDC does not attempt to do so.

Coal remains the dominant source of electricity in a country where hundreds of millions still lack reliable access to power, and where low-cost energy is a non-negotiable condition for industrial development. It is domestically abundant, relatively cheaper, and deeply embedded in the country's energy infrastructure. Current geopolitical energy insecurity only deepens India's reliance on domestic coal, reinforcing the case that the country's 2035 climate commitments must remain grounded in what is realistically achievable rather than overreach into aspirational territory.

India's stated goal is a phase-down of coal, acknowledging its continued role in the short term while signalling a directional shift over time. To manage that transition, India is investing in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and pumped hydropower storage, both of which can store surplus renewable energy and release it as a stable, round-the-clock supply, directly addressing the intermittency problem.

The economics, however, remain challenging. Storage solutions are still more expensive than simply burning coal. India believes that a functioning domestic carbon market and greater global cooperation on critical minerals, through frameworks such as BRICS, could tip the competitive balance within a decade. The country is also investing in Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage technologies to reduce emissions from coal plants that remain operational during the transition.

Building Resilience

India's NDC also looks beyond mitigation to the equally urgent task of adaptation. Extreme heat, erratic monsoons, and freshwater availability challenges are already reshaping lives across the subcontinent. The updated roadmap commits India to estimating the likely impacts on both natural and human systems and to building resilience against them. India has already moved to open its insurance sector more broadly, with the expectation that expanded coverage can serve as both a financial safety net and an economic signal that encourages more resilient behaviour.

India's updated NDC is, in many respects, a study in managed tension: between growth and sustainability, between coal and renewables, between what is desirable and what is currently affordable. That tension is not a weakness; it is the most honest account any major developing economy has yet offered of what the energy transition looks like from the inside.

The revised NDCs provide an ambitious yet practical roadmap.

India has placed itself at the forefront of climate action, spearheading transformative initiatives such as the International Solar Alliance, the Global Buofuel Alliance, and the Leadership Group for Industry Transition, while the forthcoming International Big Cat Alliance Summit further underscores India's holistic commitment to both climate and biodiversity goals.

(The writer is a senior faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad [IIMA]. Views expressed are personal.)