The Guardian view on India’s green growth gamble: it will need more than private finance | Editorial
The world’s most populous country needs state-generated demand to industrialise, decarbonise and avoid China’s overcapacity trap India is attempting to do something the world has never seen before. So claimed Niti Aayog, the government of India’s policy thinktank, earlier this year. It said that no major economy has tried to expand GDP nearly eightfold within a generation while simultaneously…
India aims to become the first major economy to simultaneously industrialise, decarbonise and avoid the overcapacity trap that China fell into. This ambitious goal is unprecedented, according to the Niti Aayog, India's government policy thinktank. In its recent report, the Niti Aayog boldly claims that no other major economy has ever attempted to expand its GDP nearly eightfold within a single generation while simultaneously transitioning to a net-zero energy and industrial system within two generations.
This perspective is supported by the historical examples of other industrialised nations. China, the world's most populous country, industrialised at an enormous scale but did so on a path that did not prioritize sustainability or net-zero emissions. In contrast, countries like South Korea, Japan, and European nations achieved economic prosperity by first industrialising and then gradually transitioning to a lower-carbon economy.
Today, these developed nations have met the basic needs of their populations and established the necessary infrastructure and high per-capita energy consumption that India is still striving to achieve.
The challenge for India is twofold. Firstly, it must rapidly industrialise to lift millions of its citizens out of poverty and provide them with the infrastructure and living standards that are now considered essential. Secondly, India must simultaneously transition its energy and industrial systems to decarbonise, all while avoiding the same overcapacity issues that China experienced. This dual objective poses a significant challenge that no other major economy has attempted before.
Written by urgent.news from Guardian Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
