India presents $3.1 tn climate investment opportunities till 2030: IFC

India's ambitious plans to meet its climate targets under the Paris Agreement represent about $3.1 trillion worth of investment opportunities by 2030, a report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) said on Thursday.

According to IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, the sectors offering those investment opportunities are renewable energy, green buildings, transport infrastructure, electric vehicles and climate-smart agriculture.

As per the IFC estimation, India's renewable energy sector that aims to install 175GW of capacity by 2022, has opportunities worth $448 billion. India aims for a 40 per cent of its installed capacity to be renewables (solar, wind, etc) by 2030.

Aiming to tap rapid urbanisation, where according to earlier reports 70 per cent of the required construction by 2030 is yet to come, the report predicts $1.4 trillion worth investment opportunities in green-building and infrastructure.

IFC further analyses that $250 billion investment could come in transport infrastructure and $667 billion in electric vehicles to meet the government's goal of electrifying all new vehicle by 2030.

On solid waste management, IFC report states that $11 billion worth investment could come in this sector, to bridge the gap between the significant amount of waste produced and the availability of appropriate infrastructure for solid waste management by 2030.

The report sees potential investments worth $128 billion in climate-smart urban water to collect, treat and manage urban wastewater to curb urban water stress and $194 billion climate-smart agriculture to boost agricultural productivity, enhance resource efficiency and resilience, and to modernise the sector in India.

"The only way that the South Asian countries can take advantage of these climate investment opportunities is with a strong and engaged private sector," said IFC CEO Philippe Le Houerou.

Part of a regional study that examines the climate-investment opportunities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, the analysis says that all these countries together represent 7.38 per cent of the global carbon dioxide emissions.

The report also identifies $172 billion of climate-smart investment opportunities in Bangladesh, $42 billion in Bhutan, $2 billion in the Maldives, $46 billion in Nepal, and $18 billion in Sri Lanka.

"We also need to have a comprehensive approach to creating markets for climate business in key sectors. That means putting in place necessary policy frameworks, promoting competition, and building capacity and skills to open new markets," added Le Houerou.

--IANS

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