Context: Recently, NITI Aayog launches the India component of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) – Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA).
About NDC – Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC – TIA)

• The NDC Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) aims at promoting a coherent strategy of effective policies for decarbonizing transport that is co-ordinated among various sector ministries, civil society and the private sector.
• The project engages in China, India and Vietnam over the period 2020-24.

Need of Transport Initiative for Asia(TIA)

• India has a massive and diverse transport sector that caters to the needs of billion people.
• It has the world’s second-largest road network, which contributes to maximum GHG emissions through all means of transportation.
• With increasing urbanisation, the fleet size i.e. the number of sales of vehicles is increasing rapidly.
• It is projected that the total number of vehicles will be doubled by 2030.

NDC–TIA is a joint programme, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and implemented by a consortium of seven organizations, namely:

• World Resources Institute (WRI)
• International Transport Forum (ITF)
• Agora Verkehrswende (AGORA)
• Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) Foundation
• Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century e.V. (REN21)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
• International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT)

Note

• In each of the partner countries, the consortium supports the design and information of stakeholder processes and the development of selected climate protection measures.
• In this way, the partners are supported in making their sectoral contributions to the achievement of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of the Paris Agreement and in raising their ambitions for long-term strategies and the 2025 NDCs.

India Component

• The India Component is implemented by six consortium organizations, all except SLoCaT.
• The implementing partner in India for the project is NITI Aayog.
• Ultimately, the programme intends to support the development of policies and regulations to promote electric vehicle charging infrastructure uptake and smooth wide scale adoption of EVs in India.

India Component will focus on

• Establishing a multi-stakeholder dialogue platform for decarbonizing transport in India.
• Strengthening GHG and transport modelling capacities.
• Providing technical support on GHG emission reduction measures.
• Financing climate actions in transport.
• Offering policy recommendations on electric vehicle (EV) demand and supply policies.
• Evaluating business models through cost-benefit analyses.