For the better part of a decade, the global conversation around climate change has been defined by intent. We have seen an unprecedented surge in net-zero commitments, corporate manifestos, and high-level diplomatic declarations. In India, the ambition is palpable, and the urgency is no longer a matter of debate.
However, as a practitioner, I have observed that we have mastered the art of the pilot project, but we are struggling with the science of scale—the gap between a successful proof-of-concept and industry-wide adoption remains stubbornly wide. If we are to move the needle, we must stop treating decarbonisation as a moral obligation and start treating it as a massive exercise in industrial execution.
In my experience, scaling the transition requires more than just goodwill; it requires the simultaneous activation of three critical levers: Capital, Technology, and Markets. When these three move in sync, ambition becomes bankable. When they don't, even the best intentions stay grounded.
The transition to a low-carbon economy is capital-intensive, often requiring significant upfront investment with longer payback periods than traditional projects. Today, the bottleneck is a lack of capital structured for the specific risks of transition, rather than a dearth of global capital in general.
We need financing models that move beyond standard commercial lending. This means blended finance, de-risking mechanisms, and patient capital that can support a project through its early, high-risk stages until it reaches commercial viability. For the India–UK/Europe Green Corridor to succeed, it must serve as a pipeline for this kind of sophisticated capital, connecting global investors with Indian projects that are ready for scale.
The Second Lever: Technology As A Deployment Challenge
There is a common misconception that we are waiting for a "silver bullet" invention to save us. The reality is that much of the technology we need already exists. The real challenge is deployment.
Can a breakthrough battery chemistry from a UK lab be adapted to the heat and dust of Indian roads? Can a European green hydrogen process be integrated into an existing Indian steel plant without breaking the supply chain? This is where the "heavy lifting" happens. We need to move away from just "importing" tech to "co-developing" and "localising" it. The Green Corridor provides the perfect platform for this kind of technical collaboration, where innovation is matched with the sheer manufacturing scale that India offers.
Perhaps the most overlooked lever is the market itself. No business can scale a green solution if the market doesn't signal that it wants it—we need to create an environment where low-carbon products provide us with a commercial advantage.
This requires credible standards, transparent carbon accounting, and, crucially, green procurement. When large buyers, both government and private sector, commit to purchasing green steel, sustainable packaging, or electric logistics, they create the predictable demand that allows producers to invest in scale. Markets must be the "pull" factor that makes the transition a growth story rather than a cost burden.
At the upcoming India Exchange 2026, we aim to contribute towards designing the India–UK/Europe Green Corridor as a strategic economic axis that is able to pull these three levers at once. A space where capital meets deployable technology, and where cross-border standards create the markets of the future.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of publication. |
