ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the prospects for the development of sustainable energy in India and identifies key challenges in this regard. The chapter begins with a review of India’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 7 aimed at ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. It reviews achievements in promoting energy access, the expansion of renewable energy and increases in energy efficiency. It then provides an overview of key co-benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency in India, which may act as additional drivers of related policies. It contrasts this with the inertia in the fossil-based energy sector, most notably coal. On this basis, the chapter then examines the governance and regulatory structures of the energy sector in India and assesses its role in perpetuating lock-in effects and path dependencies. It concludes with an overview of key challenges and related entry-points for policy action in support of a sustainable energy future for the country.
