India's Inflection Point: From Technology Consumer to Climate Solution Creator
By Prof. Satyanarayanan Seshadri, IIT Madras
India stands at a critical juncture. As the world's fifth-largest economy with 1.4 billion people, India's climate leadership will determine whether global decarbonisation succeeds. Yet we face a stark choice: remain a perpetual importer of green technologies or become the world's innovation engine for climate solutions.
The Costly Dependency
India's renewable energy deployment appears impressive—130 GW of solar capacity installed, targets of 500 GW by 2030. But this masks a structural vulnerability. China supplies 80% of India's lithium-ion battery imports and the solar module costs are 40% higher than Chinese equivalents. Without rapid domestic scaling, India cannot compete globally. Projections suggest cleantech import bills could reach $85-110 billion annually by 2030, rising to $140-300 billion by 2040. Meanwhile, India spends merely 0.65% of GDP on R&D—far below China's 2.43% and South Korea's 2.5%. Energy sector R&D receives less than 10% of this meagre allocation. This budgetary reality reflects a nation that has seen itself as a technology consumer, not creator.
Proof of Concept: IIT Madras Success Stories
Yet evidence of India's potential already exists. When IIT Madras alumni Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain founded Ather Energy in 2013, India had no electric vehicle ecosystem. Today, Ather is valued at ₹26,000 crore, operates two manufacturing facilities producing 110,000 scooters annually, and has deployed 1,000+ fast-charging stations across 80+ cities. The company proves Indian engineering can compete globally in clean mobility.
Even more striking is Agnikul Cosmos. In May 2024, this IIT Madras-incubated startup launched the world's first rocket powered by a single-piece 3D-printed semi-cryogenic engine—an achievement no other nation has accomplished. Agnikul reduced engine production time from 10-12 weeks to 75 hours. With 200+ engineers and guidance from 45 former ISRO scientists, Agnikul established India's first private launchpad and operates a factory at IIT Madras Research Park. This is global technology leadership forged in Chennai.
Institutional Architecture: The Consortium Model
The IIT Madras Energy Consortium, established December 2021, bridges academic research with industrial application through Strategic Action Teams on hydrogen economy, carbon capture, ammonia value chains, and energy economics—targeting 1 gigaton cumulative CO₂ reduction by 2035. This model connects faculty expertise, industry partnerships, and startup mentorship to accelerate commercialization. Some of the start-ups emerging from the consortium include Wankel Energy System (energy recovery from high pressure streams), Sthyr Energy (advanced Zn-air batteries), TrigenDC (high temperature steam generating heatpumps) etc..
Similarly, IndusDC, founded by an IIT Madras alumnus, is India's first decarbonization venture studio that acts as a co-founder rather than a passive investor.Two startups co-built with IIT Madras focus on next generation clean steam boilers using heat pumps and biomass to green hydrogen. This venture studio model provides capital, product development, pilot manufacturing, customer validation, and governance supportessential for hardware-heavy technologies that require long development cycles and patient capital.
The Nuclear Opportunity: SHANTI Bil
Most consequentially, the Union Cabinet's December 11, 2025 approval of the SHANTI Bill (Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India) represents India's most significant energy policy reform in six decades. By enabling private sector participation in nuclear energy development India has unlocked pathways to 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047, up from under 8 GW currently. This also creates the opportunity for institutions like IIT Madras to support start-ups on developing nuclear batteries, leveraging its expertise on energy systems and advanced manufacturing including 3D printing technologies. These advanced 4th generation nuclear batteries serve as baseload sources for energy hungry AI data centres.
The ₹20,000 crore Nuclear Energy Mission specifically targets Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), with plans to operationalize five indigenously developed SMRs by 2033. SMRs offer 300 MW modular units with passive safety features, enabling factory manufacturing and flexible deployment for industrial zones, data centers, and remote regions. Allowing up to 49% foreign direct investment and capping operator liability at ₹1,500 crore through the Indian Nuclear Insurance Pool creates investor certainty. Companies like BHEL, L&T, and Walchandnagar possess manufacturing capability; what they lacked was regulatory permission. The SMR market represents a $20 billion opportunity over the next decade.
Three-Pillar Transformation
First: Revolutionary R&D Investment. The July 2025 ₹1 lakh crore RDI Scheme provides long-term, low-interest financing for clean energy startups. This critical inflection must be doubled within three years while replicating the IIT Madras Energy Consortium model across renewable energy, batteries, hydrogen, and carbon capture. Government procurement policy must evolve from tariff protections to preferential purchasing rewarding innovation—pledging to source 100% of domestic installations from Indian manufacturers conditional on achieving efficiency and cost targets within five years.
Second: Procurement as Innovation Policy. The government's $50+ billion annual procurement in renewable energy, EVs, and energy efficiency presents a colossal opportunity to drive domestic innovation. India needs long-term procurement roadmaps with explicit commitments: the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy pledging 10 GW annual perovskite solar cell procurement; the Ministry of Heavy Industries committing 20% of government vehicles as Indian-manufactured EVs by 2030; the Department of Atomic Energy guaranteeing offtake for five private SMRs by 2033. Such commitments create immediate market signals reducing investor risk premiums. Streamlined regulatory approvals—reducing 2-3 year cycles to months—would accelerate time-to-market.
Third: Scaling the Entrepreneur Pipeline. The venture studio model must scale with government-seeded cleantech funds of ₹50,000 crores focusing on solid-state batteries, green hydrogen at competitive cost, direct air capture, enhanced geothermal systems, and green chemistry. These funds must accept 10-15 year patient capital horizons with development finance institutions bridging gaps commercial VC cannot fill. IITs should establish dedicated green technology research centers with explicit startup mentorship mandates and faculty incentives rewarding commercialization.
The Competitive Imperative
This transformation is strategic necessity, not philanthropy. Clean energy investment is structural, not cyclical. China captured manufacturing dominance; if India delays, it will find global markets consolidating around Chinese and Western technologies. Conversely, India possesses unique competitive advantages: cost structure, demographic dividend (65% under 35), and engineering talent (1.5 million graduates annually). India's innovation ranking improved from 48th globally (2020) to 38th (2025), with patent applications ranking 6th globally.
An Indian company developing breakthrough solid-state batteries or next-generation electrolyzers would capture global share, creating wealth comparable to Apple or TSMC. India's green technology exports grew substantially in 2024, finding markets across Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Recent UK-India trade deals create pathways for Indian cleantech companies accessing European markets.
Conclusion
India faces a choice with generational consequences. The ₹5-10 trillion investment required over the next decade is substantial but dwarfed by inaction's opportunity cost. The infrastructure exists: Agnikul proved India leads in space technology, Ather demonstrated globally competitive electric vehicles, IIT Madras Energy Consortium created commercialization architecture, IndusDC pioneered venture studios for hardware deep tech, and the SHANTI Bill has the potential to unlock the nuclear opportunity.
By significantly expanding R&D, reforming procurement to reward innovation, scaling venture studios, and leveraging the nuclear opportunity, India can transform climate challenges into engines of economic dominance. The world needs India's clean energy leadership because India's 1.4 billion people transitioning to clean energy will either develop cost-competitive technologies deployable globally or lock in expensive foreign alternatives. India's self-interest and the world's interest converge. The question is whether India's leadership will seize this moment.
AUTHOR
Prof. Satyanarayanan Seshadri is a faculty in the Dept of Applied Mechanics and Biomedical Engineering and the Head of The Energy Consortium, IIT Madras
He is Working on technology and market development of cleaner sources of heating in process industries. These include high temperature and steam generation heat pumps, CO2 heat pumps, high capacity low temperature thermal energy storage and Pressure to Power (P2P) steam expander for PRV substitution.
He is also working on accelerating net-zero transition through the Energy Consortium and IndusDC, where they build profitable ventures through IP and tech transfer from Universities
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