India’s ambitious net-zero goal by 2070 requires major renewable energy push

Arjun Vijayaragavan, Founder and CEO of KarbonWise, is a seasoned leader driving businesses towards net zero transformation. His journey in sustainability began with the establishment of Susnomics, a UAE consultancy specializing in low-carbon building design.

At McKinsey & Co. in London, Arjun transitioned from serving financial institutions to pivotal roles in climate initiatives, focusing on net-zero pathways, supply chain emissions, and climate risk evaluation. In 2023, Arjun leveraged a decade of expertise and founded KarbonWise in Mumbai aiming to empower businesses with the right tools on their sustainability journey. His firm has offices in the London and GCC region. His leadership, honed through diverse roles in sustainability, positions KarbonWise will to lead the net zero transition and address enterprise sustainability pain points.

Andhra Pradesh is sitting pretty in India's endeavour to achieve net zero emissions by 2070 with the proposals underway to transform Visakhapatnam as India's first green hydrogen city after signing an agreement with power major NTPC to establish Green Energy Hub near Visakhapatnam with an investment of nearly Rs1 lakh crore.

In an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, Arjun Vijayaragavan, Founder and CEO of KarbonWise, says to facilitate India's grand success story towards strengthening its decarbonised economy, strategic initiatives such as green finance, requiring approximately $7 trillion, need to be implemented.

He said the financial institutions need to develop capabilities for assessing risks in new sectors and offering specific propositions for green investments. Implementing a compliance carbon market is essential to create demand signals, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors, and incentivize investments in innovative technologies like CCUS

With India aiming for net-zero emissions by 2070, what do you think is the current state of India? And what should be India's next steps to achieve this target?

India's current emissions stand close to 3 Gt CO2e, signaling a substantial challenge in reaching net zero by 2070. To achieve this target, several concerted efforts are imperative. Firstly, India must accelerate its renewable energy capacity expansion, aiming for an annual increase of 40-50 GW, significantly higher than the current rate. Emulating China's example, which installed over 150 GW in 2023, demonstrates the feasibility and paves the way for a predominantly renewable energy-based grid.

Secondly, incentivizing the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), especially in transportation, holds promise for emission reduction. Implementing targets for all new car and two-wheeler sales to be EVs between 2030-2040, with commercial vehicles following suit thereafter, can significantly curb emissions.

In agriculture, another major emitter, implementing practices such as rice-straw upcycling, dry seeding, efficient feeding, and manure management for livestock can contribute to emissions reduction. Encouraging sustainable alternatives like plant-based protein and millet further aids in this endeavor. Improving material circularity practices, enhancing recycling rates, and reducing material waste, which accounts for over 25 per cent of India's emissions, are crucial steps. Additionally, investment in hydrogen as a fuel source and scaling up carbon capture technologies like CCUS are imperative.

To facilitate these transitions, strategic measures such as green finance, requiring approximately $7 trillion, need to be implemented. Banks must develop capabilities for assessing risks in new sectors and offering specific propositions for green investments. Implementing a compliance carbon market is essential to create demand signals, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors, and incentivize investments in innovative technologies like CCUS.

What are some examples of successful sustainability initiatives or best practices that you have observed among Indian businesses in recent years?

I believe ITC is a good example of integrating sustainability very closely with its business objectives. They have been on the renewable energy journey for close to a couple of decades now and target to reach 100 per cent renewable energy consumption by 2030. They have a range of initiatives - green buildings, green logistics, and actively think about the life cycle impact of their products among other initiatives. Their sustainability report is quite comprehensive covering all areas of sustainability quite comprehensively

Andhra Pradesh is keen on encouraging a decarbonized economy so as to produce 500 KTPS of green hydrogen by 2030. What is your suggestion to achieve it?

The key to getting green hydrogen off the ground is securing capex for the renewable energy capacity and electrolyzers. The technology exists, so it’s all about execution. Andhra Pradesh has huge potential for solar, wind and hydro capacity can also be used to run the electrolyzers to produce uninterrupted green hydrogen. So I believe this is a great move to decarbonize while also driving growth and jobs in the region.

AP as part of the Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia Policy, has signed an MoU and allotted land for setting up a Green Energy Hub near Visakhapatnam by NTPC Green Energy Ltd (NGEL). How will it help in new energy paradigms like electrolyzer and fuel cell production, ancillary industries, startups, and generating and exports of green hydrogen and its derivatives?

For any new market to thrive both the demand and supply side incentives need to be in place. So by simplifying land acquisition, the Green Energy Hub partially addresses the supplier side. But this needs to be complimented by demand-related policies, such as mandating percentage of green steel in vehicles and providing tax breaks. The hub will also help build an ecosystem for ancillary industries around electrolyzer and fuel cell production with several wrapper services around tracking, monitoring, and maintenance.

At the moment the aim of the Hydrogen strategy has to be to reduce fuel imports. On exports, it is a bit early to comment - it will depend on how cost-competitive India’s green hydrogen is compared with the rest of the world as several countries globally are working in this direction.

Could you share the story behind the inception of KarbonWise and what motivated you to start this venture?

The inception of KarbonWise stemmed from a decade-long journey of working closely with clients on their sustainability endeavors as a consultant. During this period, it became increasingly apparent that there was a significant gap in the market for a technology platform that could streamline data aggregation, analysis, and insight generation to facilitate enterprises in their sustainability endeavors. The concept of KarbonWise emerged as a solution to this pressing need, envisioned as a supportive co-pilot for businesses embarking on their sustainability journey.

With a deep understanding of the market's requirements and a clear vision of the potential impact, I took the decisive step to establish KarbonWise in 2023. The motivation behind this venture was fueled by the desire to bridge the gap between businesses and sustainable practices, empowering organizations to navigate their sustainability challenges effectively.

What are KarbonWise's market expansion plans and strategies for scaling its operations?

In terms of investment, our focus is both on driving growth and enhancing our product. We continue to scale up our inbound and outbound sales efforts. On the product side, we are focussed on two specific areas at the moment - to expand our ESG reporting capabilities to ensure comprehensive coverage of various guidelines. Additionally, we are dedicated to expanding our generative AI-based intelligence layer, to provide more intelligent and proactive insights to our clients.

With the global focus shifting towards sustainability and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) considerations, how do you think Indian businesses are adapting to meet these expectations?

The larger, listed Indian businesses have been on this journey for a few years now with investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. With the recent BRSR reporting mandate by SEBI, most large organizations have a fairly mature understanding of ESG, have set up data processes, and also gone through 2-3 reporting cycles. I think the big challenge that Indian businesses and those globally are facing is to create a comprehensive carbon reduction and ESG plan that also includes their supply chain. It's a challenge to gather data from suppliers and use that to create credible plans, which is where using technology and data effectively can help.