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Renewable energy is India's shield against rising temperatures

Published on :

24 April 2025

Published By :

Hindustan Times

Category :

Op-eds


It’s 5 pm in Delhi, and stepping outside feels like walking into a furnace. This April, temperatures have already crossed 40°C, and every morning the newspaper reads more like a weather warning than a daily update. Across the country, cities are issuing yellow alerts, hospitals are preparing for heat-related illnesses, and peak power demand is surging.

 

This is no longer an unusual occurrence. The discomfort many of us feel is not a matter of personal inconvenience—it is a warning sign of a much deeper and more structural problem. Heatwaves have become an annual certainty, and with them come both humanitarian and economic risks that are increasing year by year.

 

Between 2001 and 2020, India lost over 250 billion hours of labour due to heat-related productivity losses. This is no longer merely a statistic. It’s much, much more: A stark reflection of how rising temperatures are directly impacting our workforce and economic output. Projections from the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimate that by 2030, India could potentially lose about 34 million full-time jobs, with productivity losses due to heat stress accounting for 4.5% of the GDP. These impacts cut across sectors—from construction to manufacturing—and affect the most vulnerable communities first. This is not just a Delhi issue; it is a national crisis unfolding in real time. This year’s Earth Day which was yesterday was themed, ‘Our Power, Our Planet’. This could not be more appropriate for our times. While it celebrates our progress, it also reminds us that there is still a long road ahead. With a population that is experiencing rapid urbanisation and ever-increasing energy demands, our country at a crossroads. Do we perpetuate a cycle of energy insecurity and rising emissions, or can we choose to invest in systems that are resilient, clean, and inclusive?

 

While rising temperatures test our resilience, they also reveal where our systems need to evolve. Solutions exist, but they need scale, speed, and a shared sense of responsibility. And that is where we all need to rally together.

 

  • ·      Government response: Heat Action Plans (HAPs): Several Indian cities, including Ahmedabad and Delhi, have adopted HAPS to mitigate the effects of extreme heat. HAPS provide safeguards, including prioritising focus on vulnerable groups (like children), preparedness and response protocols, and public awareness campaigns, to name a few. These are commendable first steps, but the scale and scope of these plans must grow. According to the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC), fewer than 20 Indian states and cities currently have HAPs in place, many of which lack funding, localised strategies, and long-term execution capacity. What we need is to strengthen these frameworks with better early warning systems, public health preparedness, and urban design guidelines.

 

  • ·      Sustainable cooling: Cooling cannot be synonymous with rising emissions. India's cooling demand is expected to grow eightfold by 2038, according to the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP). But air conditioning alone is not the answer—it is an energy-intensive solution that risks creating a feedback loop of more emissions and more heat. Instead, we must adopt passive cooling methods, cool roof technologies, and climate-smart urban planning. Countries like Singapore have integrated district cooling systems and green building mandates that India can adapt to its context. The key is cost-efficiently innovating low-carbon cooling solutions that serve all, not just a few.

 

  • ·      Energy conservation and efficiency: Shifting from reactive energy use to proactive efficiency is another pillar of resilience. Retrofitting buildings, promoting energy-efficient appliances, and expanding public-private partnerships to scale up conservation technologies are some vital steps we can take collectively. This approach doesn’t just reduce the load on the grid; it reduces the heat load on the entire city.

 

  • ·      Placing renewable energy centre stage: India’s electricity demand rises by 4–5% during summer months—a surge largely driven by cooling needs. Meeting this demand through fossil fuels only compounds the problem, adding to heat-generating emissions and air pollution. With renewable energy, by contrast, we can co-create a clean, scalable, and climate-aligned path forward.

 

As of February 2025, India’s renewable capacity crossed 200 GW, accounting for about 46% of our total installed power capacity. But this is only the beginning. The ambition to triple renewable capacity to 500 GW by 2030 is not just a climate goal—it’s a resilience imperative. Clean energy can power not only our homes but also our hospitals, cooling centres, and transport systems—even during climate emergencies.

 

Tackling India’s heat crisis requires a whole-of-society approach. Our energy systems need to work in tandem with urban planning, public health, infrastructure, and policy innovation. This cannot be the burden of one ministry, one industry, or one person—it is a shared responsibility. Companies in the private sector must continue to lead with scale and intention. As individual citizens, we can amplify awareness at the ground level and ensure last-mile impact. And as for government support, both central and state, can focus on long-term resilience through policy, funding, and partnerships, a win-win situation for all.

 

While temperatures rise, so, too, must our aspirations. Our personal growth and collective progress as a nation all depend on how we prepare today. Renewable energy is not just a power sector story—it is a public health safeguard, a development strategy, and a national imperative. At ReNew, we’ve always believed that clean energy is not just about watts and megawatts—it’s about resilience, equity, and the future we choose to build together. By acting today with clarity, collaboration, and commitment, we are not just powering homes, but powering possibilities.

 

This article is authored by Vaishali Nigam Sinha, co-founder and chairperson, sustainability, ReNew.

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