NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI) of India together launched the ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport’ in India on August 23, 2021.

Key points

• This forum was launched virtually as part of NDC-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA) project.
• It aims to decrease the peak level of Greenhouse Gas emissions (transport sector) in Asia which is rising because of problems like air pollution and congestion.
• It was launched in line with below 2-degree pathway.

India comprises of a massive and diverse transport sector. It is is also the third most CO2 emitting sector. According to data of IEA 2020 and Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change 2018, within the transport sector, road transport contributes more than 90% of the total CO2 emissions.

Government of India is working for decarbonisation of road transport sector with the help of various policy and initiatives. Primary focus of the government is on adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in India. NITI Aayog has been promoting EVs and sustainable mobility with the help of National Mission on Transformative Mobility & Battery Storage.

In order to leverage and streamline EVs across India, there is a need is to create a favourable ecosystem for stakeholders including Central & state Governments, financial institutions, state-designated agencies, OEMs, businesses, research & technical institutes and private bodies. These stakeholders should coordinate with each other to enable investment, ensure fair adoption in industry and encourage adoption. Thus, this forum was launched for NITI aayog & WRI to work in close coordination with the stakeholders in order to formulate strategies and develop appropriate business models to boost electric mobility across India.