Opportunities for State-Owned Enterprises in India's Clean Energy Future

This webinar presents the findings of a new IISD report that provides an evidence-based approach to ensuring India’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are part of the country’s clean energy transition while also continuing to bring revenues to the government, create jobs, and support local communities. The presentation is followed by a panel discussion on opportunities for SOEs in the clean energy future.

SOEs—known in India as Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)—hold dominant positions in India’s energy sector, controlling coal mining, transport, power generation; natural gas exploration; and crude oil extraction, refining, and marketing. They bring sizable financial returns to the Government of India, employ millions of citizens, engage in community building, and take on activities of strategic importance. With the growing pressure from cost-competitive clean energy sources and India’s global decarbonization commitments, Indian PSUs are expected to face challenges due to their fossil-dependent business model.

IISD has undertaken a study to build an evidence-based approach to how firms can identify business risks while also illustrating the “opportunity” in transition—how SOEs can mitigate risk by helping deliver a share of India’s clean energy targets.

Organized in partnership with the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta Centre for Development and Environment Policy (IIM–C CDEP), this webinar shows how this approach can be applied to three central-level PSUs that play fundamental roles in the coal-to-power value chain: Coal India Limited, the largest national coal miner; NTPC, the largest thermal power producer; and Indian Railways, the primary transporter of coal across the country.

Agenda

Introduction

Summary of Findings

Balasubramanian Viswanathan, Policy Advisor, IISD

Panel Discussion

Moderator:

Runa Sarkar, Professor, IIM Calcutta

Panellists:

• Vivek Sen, Associate Director, Climate Policy Initiative
• Valerie Kwan, Director, Asian Investor Group on Climate Change 
• Aditya Raghwa, Counsellor, CII–ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development

Q&A

Closing Remarks

Mritiunjoy Mohanty, Professor, Economics, IIM Calcutta