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Decarbonising India’s
Transport System
Charting the Way Forward

Decarbonising India’s
Transport System
Charting the Way Forward

The International Transport ForumThe International Transport Forum is an intergovernmental organisation with 62 member countries. It acts
as a think tank for transport policy and organises the Annual Summit of transport ministers. ITF is the only
global body that covers all transport modes. The ITF is politically autonomous and administratively
integrated with the OECD.
The ITF works for transport policies that improve peoples’ lives. Our mission is to foster a deeper
understanding of the role of transport in economic growth, environmental sustainability and social
inclusion and to raise the public profile of transport policy.
The ITF organises global dialogue for better transport. We act as a platform for discussion and prenegotiation of policy issues across all transport modes. We analyse trends, share knowledge and promoteexchange among transport decision makers and civil society. The ITF’s Annual Summit is the world’s largest
gathering of transport ministers and the leading global platform for dialogue on transport policy.
The Members of the Forum are: Albania, Armenia, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China (People’s Republic of), Croatia,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India,
Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta,
Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, theUnited Kingdom, the United States and Uzbekistan.

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Case Specific Policy Analysis Reports
The ITF’s Case-Specific Policy Analysis series presents topical studies on specific issues carried out by the
ITF in agreement with local institutions. Any findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein arethose of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Transport Forum or theOECD. Neither the OECD, ITF nor the authors guarantee the accuracy of any data or other information
contained in this publication and accept no responsibility whatsoever for any consequence of their use.
This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the ITF. This document, as wellas any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any
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city or area.
Cite this work as: ITF (2021), “Decarbonising India’s Transport System: Charting the Way Forward”,
International Transport Forum Policy Papers, No. 88, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Acknowledgements
Findings of this report are part of the outputs of the Decarbonising Transport (DT) initiative1 of theInternational Transport Forum (ITF), which helps governments and industry to translate climate ambitions
into actions.
One work stream of the DT initiative has a specific focus on national transport decarbonisation pathways.
The Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies (DTEE) project is part of this work stream andsupports transport decarbonisation in Argentina, Azerbaijan, India and Morocco through the development
and the provision of a framework allowing the quantitative assessment of transport mitigation actions,while also facilitating policy dialogue across all relevant stakeholders. The DTEE project also includes
capacity building activities such as training and stakeholder workshops, ensuring that partner institutions
can work increasingly independently when revising nationally determined contribution (NDC)
commitments in the five-year review cycle. Such activities will also allow assessment frameworks to be
kept up to date with the use of adequate recurring data collection. The DTEE project is funded by theInternational Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature
Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). As such, the authors would like to thank BMU for supporting thisproject.
The activities of the DTEE project are developed in close co-ordination with national government agencies
from each country, also involving local policy makers and other stakeholders from industry, academia, andnon-governmental and civil society organisations. NITI Aayog is the nodal agency responsible for liaisingwith the ITF and its partner, the Wuppertal Institute (WI), in the joint implementation of the DTEE project.
The development of this report was co-ordinated by Pierpaolo Cazzola (ITF). Other authors are Vatsalya
Sohu (ITF), Till Bunsen (ITF), Matteo Craglia (ITF) and Santhosh (Sunny) Kodukula, who contributed fromthe WI.
The authors would like to thank Siddharth Sinha and Madhav Sharma at NITI Aayog, Sharif Qamar at The
Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Hannah E. Murdock and Lea Ranalder at REN21, Megha Kumar at
the International Council on Clean Transport (ICCT), Vaibhav Chaturvedi at Council on Energy, Environment
and Water (CEEW), Meredydd Evans and Steven J. Smith at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL),
Sarbojit Pal at the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), and Elisabeth Windisch and Jari Kauppila at the ITF fortheir contributions and insightful comments during the review process.

DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Table of contents
Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies: The case of India.................................................... 5
Overview of the transport sector in India ............................................................................................ 6
Passenger transport activity ....................................................................................................... 6
Freight transport activity .......................................................................................................... 10
Energy use, CO2 and pollutant emissions from transport ........................................................ 11
Current policies on climate, energy and transport ............................................................................. 14
Transport focus ........................................................................................................................ 14
Projected developments for transport decarbonisation .................................................................... 20
Travel demand projections....................................................................................................... 20
Impacts on energy and greenhouse gas emissions .................................................................. 23
The importance of taking a holistic approach to transport decarbonisation ...................................... 25
Annex ................................................................................................................................................ 27

Notes................................................................................................................................................. 29
References ........................................................................................................................................ 31

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies:
The case of India
With 1.4 billion people, India’s population is second only to the People’s Republic of China (hereafter“China”) (United Nations, 2019) and is the sixth largest economy globally, following the United States,
China, the European Union, Japan and the United Kingdom (World Bank, 2021). India is also the world’s
fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) from fuel combustion after the United States, China andthe European Union, even though its per capita emissions remain well below the global average (IEA,
2020a). Expectations for rapid growth in population and gross domestic product, along with growing
energy needs to sustain these developments, highlight India as of paramount importance for future trends
in global GHG emissions (Slater, 2020), and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has singled out thecentral role of India in the world's efforts to mitigate climate change (United Nations, 2020).
Transport is an important part of these considerations, due to its relevance for oil demand and directemissions, as well as its role as a key facilitator for economic development. In addition to final energy use
and direct emissions of GHGs, largely due to oil combustion, transport is also responsible for increased
energy demand and GHG emissions due to infrastructure construction, vehicle manufacturing and fuelproduction. Additional environmental and health impacts of transport also stem from emissions of local
pollutants such as NOx and particulate matter. Depending on its modal structure and which technologies
are used to propel the vehicles needed to move people and goods, transport is a sector that can lock-in
significant emissions into the future, due to the long lifespan of vehicles and fuel supply infrastructure.
Transport technologies have a central role to play in industrial development, especially in a context where
effective decarbonisation necessitates co-ordinated actions across different sectors. Transport
decarbonisation policies can also help manage fuel oil demand, a priority for the government due to highimport dependence, currently 82% of total consumption (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, 2018).
The objective of this scoping paper is to take a closer look at these aspects, opening with an analysis ofcurrent transport activity in India, including recent developments for passenger and freight services,
related energy use and GHG emissions. Then reviewing key policy instruments designed to shape transport
developments for the immediate future and beyond, focusing on measures taken at both national andurban levels. The subsequent Section investigates future transport scenarios in India, taking into accountwork carried out by several research institutes and outlining key aspects that should be considered infuture work on transport decarbonisation. The final Section builds on these insights charting a way forward
for a climate change mitigation strategy for the Indian transport sector. In particular, it underlines theimportance of taking an approach that is limited not only to reducing direct GHG emissions, but takes into
account a lifecycle perspective.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Overview of the transport sector in India
This Section reviews India’s current transport landscape in terms of activity and energy use, as well as
emissions of GHG and local pollutants. It opens with a review of passenger transport that considers
absolute activity levels, as well as factors that determine which transport modes prevail in urban andoverland mobility. The Section then takes stock of the country’s freight transport sector and closes withan overview of how various transport modes contribute to India’s energy use and environmental footprint.

Passenger transport activity
Estimates indicate that passenger transport activity in India more than tripled from 2000 to 2020, reachingover 6 trillion passenger kilometres (pkm), despite major impacts due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020
(Box 1).
Figure 1. Passenger transport activity in India by mode (trillion passenger kilometres), 2000-20
7Aviation

6

Trillion pkm

5

Cars

4

Buses

3

Rail

2

Two/three-wheelers

1
0
2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Notes and sources: ITF analysis prepared with the support of the IEA Mobility Model. Estimates of activity of roadtransport modes are based on assumptions data on vehicle sales and stock, combined with estimates on average
mileages and load factors. Vehicle stocks are calculated for each road mode using historic vehicle sales data andcalibrating against available statistics on stock. This results in an average vehicle lifespan of 14 years for twowheelers, 16 years for three-wheelers and 19 years for cars and buses. Assumptions for average vehicle mileage
per year before Covid-19 are close to 6 000 km for two-wheelers, 20 000 km for three-wheelers, 12 000 km forcars, and 30 000 km for buses. Assumptions for average load factors (in pkm per vehicle km [vkm]) are 1.1 for
two-wheelers, 1.8 for three-wheelers, 2.6 for cars and 35 for buses. Mileage and loads in earlier years are notassumed to vary significantly from these magnitudes, and mileage variations for 2020 are informed by the discussion
in Box 1. Aviation includes domestic and international activity.
While estimates presented in the Figure are based on these transparent assumptions, it is important to acknowledge
that there is a lack of consensus within the research community, partly regarding the amount of fuel (namely diesel)
used for road vehicles. Other uncertain aspects include the number of registered vehicles that are actually used andaverage distances travelled. Data for 2020 rely on estimations that have a higher degree of uncertainty than inearlier years.
Sales data for two- and three-wheelers and for cars are from SIAM (2021); sales data for buses are from ICRA
(2020); rail transport statistics are based on UIC (2021); vehicle stock data for two-wheelers, cars and buses arefrom Government of India (2021); aviation estimates are based on data from ICAO (2020). Assumptions on loadfactors of buses are informed by UITP (2002, 2015) and IDTP (2021).

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

In common with other Asian emerging economies, many households in India own motorised two-wheelers,
accounting for more than 70% of the total registered vehicles (MoRTH, 2019) and, along with China, is oneof the world’s largest markets for scooters and motorcycles, with sales in India reaching close to 20 million
per year before the Covid-19 pandemic (SIAM, 2021). This makes two-wheelers a significant contributor
to overall motorised transport activity (Figure 1). Their extensive use in cities also makes two- and threewheelers responsible for a major share of urban transport activity.
Passenger mobility in India is also characterised by paratransit services, also known as intermediate public
transport (IPT), contributing both to main haul and feeder services for other modes of transport (Gadepalli,2016). IPT is largely served by motorised auto-rickshaws (three-wheelers), although may also be provided
by non-motorised options, such as a cycle rickshaw. IPT services are more common in smaller cities, withshort trip distances, partly due to insufficient active transport (walking and cycling) and lacking public
transport facilities. In larger cities IPT services mostly provide the first and last mile connection to masstransit stations, such as metro and suburban rail or bus rapid transit (BRT) systems.
Box 1. Impacts of Covid-19 on the Indian transport sector
Covid-19 has shaped mobility patterns worldwide since early 2020. In India, the government implemented
a strict national lock-down on 24 March 2020. The lockdown was first announced to last 21 days, but waslater extended and mobility took a dip for the rest of the year (BBC, 2020).
Figure 2. Index for changes of routing requests on Apple Maps in India, January to November 2020

Percentage change from baseline

60

Driving

Walking

40
20
0
-20
-40
-60
-80

-100
Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May

June

July

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Note: Figure shows the weekly average change in routing requests for walking and driving in urban areas on theApple Maps routing application. The baseline is the number of requests on 13 January 2020.
Source: Apple (2020).

Urban mobility came to a standstill during the lockdown and by April 2020 had decreased by 80%
compared to the beginning of the year (Figure 2) and non-urban travel also plunged. In May 2020 Rail India
suspended all passenger services and only operated special trains to bring home migrant workers (Ministryof Railways, 2020a). In August 2020 the government announced that scheduled passenger services onintercity and suburban trains would remain suspended until further notice (Ministry of Railways, 2020b).
By April, the number of scheduled flights at Indian airports had collapsed by 82% year-on-year and wasstill 44% below 2019 levels by November 2020 (OAG, 2020).

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Railways make a significant contribution to passenger transport in India, especially if compared with theASEAN region, where the modal share of intercity rail is negligible. The Indian rail system, along with thoseof China, the European Union and the Russian Federation (hereafter “Russia”), provides some of thelargest passenger transport services (in pkm) globally. The estimated current modal share for rail in India
is about a quarter of all pkm. India was also estimated to have the second-highest absolute level ofpassenger rail activity in 2016, close behind China (IEA, 2019a).
Metro networks currently operate in only 11 Indian cities (plus one under construction); however, thegovernment is keen to extend metro services to 50 cities (IEA, 2019a; Deccan Chronicle, 2019). Existing
metro rail and suburban rail systems in India often lack integration with the local transport network,
resulting in low ridership and with fare revenues failing to cover operating costs in several cities(Venkatraman, 2020). Kolkata was the first city to implement a metro rail transport system, followed byDelhi, however cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai had suburban rail systems even before theintroduction of metro rail systems. Part of the energy needed for metro operations in Delhi, including
station lighting, is powered by solar power from photo voltaic cells on station roofs, parking locations andcity depots (DMRC, 2020). Suburban rail usage in Mumbai is exceptionally high compared to other systems
in the country, this can be attributed to the efficient operation by Western Railway and Central Railway
and to the linear form of the city. The Integrated Transport Plan for the National Capital Region (NCR) 2032
also includes the development of a Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), a high-speed and high-capacity
commuter service connecting the regional nodes in the NCR (NCRTC, 2020).2
Despite the fact that non-motorised transport infrastructure lags in many cities, shares of walking andcycling are high compared to major cities in developed regions (see Box 2 for a comparison with London).
Box 2. Non-motorised transport in India
The share of non-motorised transport in many Indian cities is high compared to similarly sized cities
globally, for example, Pai (2007) reported that in Indian cities with populations of over 1 million, nonmotorised transport accounted for more than 25% of passenger trips, compared with approximately 14%
in London, with a population of 6.6 million. Surat is the city with the greatest share of walking and cycling(55% for a population of 2.4 million), whereas Bangalore has the lowest (25% for a population of
8.6 million) (Pai, 2007).
The census of India in 2011 reported that over 30% of the trips to work are made on foot and 17% bybicycle. Continuous, wide, unobstructed footpaths or bicycle paths are lacking in most Indian cities. Better
infrastructure, together with improved road safety, would further encourage walking and cycling.
Safety for pedestrians and cyclists is a major concern, particularly as motorisation is increasing, and those
who are reliant on active travel modes, such as the urban poor, are disproportionately affected. Around
12% of reported road fatalities are pedestrians and cyclists, however the WHO estimates this number tobe much higher (WHO, 2018).
In 2020, buses accounted for roughly 20% of all pkm (Figure 1) and at least 25% of India’s urban residents
depend on public transport (Abhishek, 2020). The importance of buses in the Indian urban modal mix is
consistent with the low-income level since this is one of the factors associated with a lower reliance on
private modes. Despite the high relevance of buses in the Indian modal mix for passenger transport, mostIndian cities remain ill-prepared to deliver high-quality, inclusive mobility. Formal city bus systems are only
available in a few larger Indian cities such as Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai, and serve only a small portionof public transport demand. While new BRT systems introduced in several cities serve central routes, they8

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

lack feeder services and sufficient reach to extend their benefits to poorer communities. Ridership levels
and trends for urban transport by bus vary between cities.3
Although public transport use in many cities is high, the transport providers – mainly state-run entities –incur operating losses of 6%-27% (Gadepalli and Rayaprolu, 2020; MoRTH, 2017). In many Tier II and III 4
cities, informal operators fill the void created by poor public transport services. These services are usuallyfaster and more affordable than state run public transport as operating costs are lower and they operateon the most profitable routes.
With more than 35 million cars on Indian roads in 2019, passenger cars accounted for just below 20% of
all passenger transport activity in 2020 (OICA, 2016; OICA, 2019). This relatively low share of transport bypassenger car is principally due to vehicle ownership levels, which are well below those observed in othermajor economies (Figure 3). However, levels of car ownership are rapidly increasing, almost doubling in
the past ten years, with vehicle sales close to 3 million per year (and exceeding this value in 2017 and2018)5 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Figure 3. Vehicle ownership rates for cars and two-wheelers in selected countries and regions (per 1 000
inhabitants), 2018

Vehicles per thousand inhabitants

700
600
500

400
300
200
100
0
Two-wheelers
India

ASEAN

Cars
China

European UnionJapan

United States

Note: Ownership rates are estimated based on vehicle stocks calculated from historic sales data. Assumed averagevehicle lifespan ranges from 9-14 years for two-wheelers and from 13-19 years for cars.
Source: Vehicle sales data are from SIAM (2021); OICA (2019); OICA (2016); ACEM (2021); JAMA (2020);
ASEAN Automotive Federation (2020); Web Bike World (2016); CAAM (2021). Population data are from UN(2019).

The growing number of cars on the road results in increased urban congestion. A review of comprehensive
mobility plans (CMPs) in 2010 showed that average motor vehicle speed on urban roads in India was 1516 km/h (CSTEP and IUT, 2014). The TomTom Traffic Index ranks Bengaluru as having the worst global
levels of traffic congestion, with Mumbai, Pune and New Delhi in fourth, fifth and eighth positions,
respectively (TomTom, 2019). Cities in India also face a severe shortage in space and on-street parking canblock up to 60% of the road width. In dense cities the area of a single parking space is larger than the areaof a plot for low-income housing (ITDP, 2012). A typical response to accommodate growing motor vehicles
and ease congestion is to provide additional road space, often in the form of flyovers, signal free roads andring roads, leading to a vicious cycle of automobile dependency (Gupta, 2014).

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

In recent years, the increase in car travel was partly induced by app-based taxi services, which have a
growing presence in the urban transport scene in India, offering a cost-effective service compared to car
ownership. Ridesharing in India is governed by state governments and the two major ridesharing operators
are Ola and Uber, which launched in India in 2010 and 2014, respectively. Ola holds more than 50% of themarket, Uber holds around 30% and other small operators, such as Meru, Jugnoo, ixigo, hold the remaining
20% (Kaushal, 2018). The advent of ridesharing spurred technology development with cashless payments
and delivery of information to consumers. Improvements in ridesharing are expected to reduce personalvehicle demand and provide employment opportunities (Ghosh, 2019), however some form ofgovernment regulation is essential to protect local businesses and create a level playing field for all service
providers.
Transport by air is still low compared with other major economies with higher income levels, however
aviation saw sustained growth prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, growth in Indian domestic
aviation was the fastest globally in the four years leading up to 2019, continuing to grow in 2019, albeit ata lower rate, despite the Jet Airways bankruptcy (Timperley, 2019; IATA, 2019).

Freight transport activity
As in all economies, maritime transport has a central role as an enabler of international trade for India and,due to the long distances required for international movement of goods, accounts for substantial tonne
kilometres (tkm). Based on analysis of trade data by commodity and origin/destination distances, totalinternational maritime transport activity to and from India is estimated to be between 2.5 and 3 trillion
tkm per year in the period 2015-20, exceeding the volume of inland transport activity in the country, whichis estimated to be around 2 trillion tkm for the same period, up from 1.5 trillion tkm in 2010 (Figure 4).
Rail remains a key mode of freight transport in India, despite a declining share in recent years, rail freightactivity is larger than for the whole of Europe, roughly 25% of the tkm of North America or China, andaround 30% of the tkm of rail transport in Russia (IEA, 2019a). The coal sector and railways are stronglyinterdependent in India, 60% of coal is transported by rail and coal is the leading product shipped on therail network, accounting for 40% of Indian Railways’ revenue (IEA, 2020b). The stagnation of transported
coal volumes and declining average distances have led to reduced rail freight activity (in tkm) in recent
years. Charges for freight rail transport are significantly higher than in other countries as freight revenues
are used to subsidise passenger rail transport (IEA, 2019a; IEA, 2020b).6
Trucks with gross vehicle weight (GVW) over 3.5 tonnes account for the largest portion of road transport
activity, with a share of over 80% of total road freight traffic. This reflects the fact that these vehicles havea high load capacity and drive large distances, typically for long distance transport of large amounts ofgoods. Nevertheless, as is the case in other emerging economies, the modal share of medium-sized trucks(GVW above 3.5 tonnes and below 12 tonnes) out of all trucks (including trucks with a GVW above
12 tonnes) in India is higher than in developed economies. This can be at least partly explained by thequality of the road network (IEA, 2017). Light commercial vehicles (GVW below 3.5 tonnes) have a limited
modal share in India. This is due to their low load capacity and ownership rates (similar to passenger cars,
light commercial vehicle ownership grows with increasing income and tends to stabilise once incomes
exceed USD 30 000 per capita) (IEA, 2017). Rickshaws (three-wheelers) are common in India’s cities andare also partly used for freight transport.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Figure 4. Freight transport activity in India by inland mode (trillion tonne kilometres), 2000-20
2.5
Threewheelers
2.0

Trillion tkm

LCV
1.5

MFT
1.0
HFT

0.5
Freight rail
0.0
2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Notes: Freight transport activity by inland mode, excluding domestic navigation. LCV= light commercial vehicle
with gross vehicle weight (GVW) up to 3.5 tonnes; MFT= medium freight truck with GVW 3.5-12 tonnes; HFT=
heavy freight truck with GVW over 12 tonnes.
Source: ITF analysis prepared with the support of the IEA Mobility Model. Estimates of activity of road transportmodes are based on data on vehicle stock, combined with estimates of average mileage and load factors. Vehicle
stocks are calculated for each road mode using historic vehicle sales data and calibrating against available statistics
on stock. For commercial vehicles, this assumes an average vehicle lifespan of 21 years (LCVs), 20 years (MFTs)
and 18 years (HFTs). Assumptions for average vehicle mileage per year before Covid-19 are close to 11 000 km(LCVs), 24 000 km (MFTs) and 37 000 km (HFTs). Average load factors (tkm per vkm) are 1 (LCVs), 9 (MFTs) and16 (HFTs). Mileages and loads in earlier years are not assumed to vary significantly from these magnitudes. Mileagevariations for 2020 are informed by the discussion in Box 1. Data for 2020 rely on estimations that have a higher
degree of uncertainty than earlier years. See also the note to Figure 1 regarding other data uncertainties.
Commercial vehicle sales data are from Autocar Pro (2019); commercial vehicle stock data are from Government ofIndia (2021); load factor data for commercial vehicles are informed by IEA (2017); rail data are informed by IEA(2019a).

Energy use, greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions from transport
The Indian transport sector is a major contributor to national energy use, GHG emissions and air pollution
levels. Establishing the most appropriate way to regulate the sector will impact on these levels nationwide.
Energy use

The transport sector’s contribution to final energy demand in 2020 reached an estimated 4.3 exajoules(EJ) in 2020, almost 20% of the final energy use for India (IEA, 2020b), which is still lower than the global
average of 29% (IEA, 2020c). Transport energy use has shown growth of around 50% since 2010, despite
the strong impacts of Covid-19 (Figure 5). Oil products contribute 95% of final energy used in the Indiantransport sector (IEA, 2020b) with natural gas (available only in major cities7), biofuels8 and electricity makeup the remaining 5%. Taking into account 20% of upstream energy and refining losses (in addition to thefinal demand of petroleum products), energy use due to fuel for transport is roughly 12% of the total
primary energy demand in the country, excluding pipelines.9 End-use and refining demand are major
contributors to the total demand for oil in India (accounting for roughly 50%), which make India the world’s
third-largest consumer of oil and the fourth-largest oil refiner (IEA, 2020b).

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Figure 5. Energy use by mode in passenger and freight transport in India (exajoules), 2000-20
3.0

Cars

Two/three-wheelers

Buses

Air

Rail

3.0
2.5

2.0

2.0

1.5

1.5

1.0

1.0

0.5

0.5

MFT

Shipping

Rail

LCV

Three-wheelers

EJ

2.5

HFT

0.0

0.0

2000

2005

2010
Passenger

2015

2020

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Freight

Note: LCV= light commercial vehicle; MFT= medium freight truck; HFT= heavy freight truck.
Sources: ITF analysis prepared with the support of the IEA Mobility Model. Results for freight transport exclude
domestic aviation. ITF analysis based on activity data outlined in earlier figures and energy use (in 2018) of 2 litresof gasoline equivalent (Lge) per 100 km for two-wheelers, 3 Lge per 100 km for three-wheelers, 6.4 Lge per 100
km for cars, 36 Lge per 100 km for buses, 7 Lge per 100 km for LCVs, 26 Lge per 100 km for MFTs and 46 Lge per
100 km for HFTs. Energy intensities are 0.04 MJ/pkm for passenger rail services, 0.2 MJ/tkm for freight rail and1.35 MJ/pkm for passenger aviation. Energy intensities for cars in earlier years reflect variations in energy intensity.
Data for 2020 rely on estimations that have a higher degree of uncertainty than earlier years. See also the note to
Figures 3 and 4 regarding other data uncertainties. Data for rail are informed by IEA (2019a); for cars, by IEA(2019b); for medium and heavy road vehicles, by IEA (2017) and Delgado et al. (2016); for LCVs, estimates are
consistent with data available from Deo (2021); for aviation, data are informed by IEA (2020c) and ICAO (2020).

In 2020, an estimated 60% of final energy use in the Indian transport sector related to passenger transport,
compared with 40% for freight transport. Cars had the highest share in final energy demand for passenger
transport (mainly petrol and diesel10), accounting for more than a third of the total. This share is higher
than their contribution to passenger transport (Figure 1), reflecting their higher energy use per pkm
compared to rail, buses or two- and three-wheelers. However, it is worth noting that passenger cars inIndia are comparably fuel efficient by international standards, mostly due to their small size and weight.
Rail is the most energy efficient mode of passenger transport, with only a 3% share in passenger transportenergy use for a 25% share in passenger transport activity. Rail is already making an important contribution
in limiting transport energy demand in India by displacing travel that would otherwise take place by moreenergy intensive modes. This is a key reason why promoting the use of rail, and other energy efficientmeans of passenger transport, can decouple growth in passenger activity from increasing energy use, andindirectly reduce GHG emissions and resulting climate impacts from transport.
Rail is also the most energy efficient land-based transport mode for freight: inland freight rail transport
activity was close to 30%, yet its share in freight transport energy use was just 9% in 2020. Rail also has ahigh reliance on electricity, which can be produced from renewables to eliminate GHG emissions. Of
conventional passenger rail activity, 54% is powered by electricity (on a passenger kilometre basis),compared to 65% of total freight rail activity (on a tonne-kilometre basis) (IEA, 2019a; IEA, 2020b).
Trucks are the largest energy consumer in this sector, using an estimated 1.3 EJ in 2020, over 70% of allenergy used to transport freight and is the fastest growing segment in freight transport energy use,
doubling since 2010.

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Greenhouse gas emissions

Trends in GHG emissions from the Indian transport sector generally mirror those of energy use. Tank-towheel GHG emissions (accounting for CO2 emissions occurring during fuel combustion, but not foremissions taking place upstream, in particular for the conversion of primary energy into energy vectorsthat can be used by transport vehicles) are estimated at 300 Mt in 2020 (including maritime transport).
The strong link between trends in energy use and GHG emissions from the transport sector are a result ofhigh oil dependency.
Figure 6. Tank-to-wheel CO2 emissions by mode for passenger and freight transport in India (million tonnesof CO2 equivalent), 2000-20
200

Mt CO2eq

180

Cars

Two/three-wheelers

Buses

Air

Rail

200
180

160

160

140

140

120

120

100

100

80

80

60

60

40

40

20

20

0

HFT

MFT

Shipping

Rail

LCV

Three-wheelers

0
2000

2005

2010
Passenger

2015

2020

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Freight

Note: LCV= light commercial vehicle; MFT = medium freight truck; HFT = heavy freight truck.
Sources: ITF analysis prepared with the support of the IEA Mobility Model. Results are based on energy use data
outlined in earlier figures. Emissions related with biofuels are informed by the analysis developed in Prussi et al.
(2020) with simplified assumptions about attribution to different production pathways. Data for 2020 rely on
estimations that have a higher degree of uncertainty than earlier years. See also the note to Figure 1 regarding
other data uncertainties. CO2 intensities for fossil fuels are from IPCC (2019); carbon intensities of electricity
generation are from IEA (2020c).

Emissions of local pollutants

In addition to GHG emissions, the Indian transport sector is also responsible for emissions of local
pollutants, with significant negative impacts on human health. This is a major issue, since over 84% ofIndia’s population (and primarily the urban poor) are exposed to high concentrations of ambient air
pollution, mainly from particulate matter (PM) (Sharma, 2020). In 2019, India’s capital Delhi was the worst
city in the World Air Quality Report’s ranking of annual fine particulate matter (PM2.5) levels, with half ofthe 50 most polluted cities also being in India (IQAir, 2020). In urban areas, PM2.5 emissions are caused
by industry and vehicles (IQAir, 2021). To address the issue in the case of road vehicles, pollutant emission
standards have been enforced since the mid-1980s (see Box 4 for an overview of recent policy
developments). However, older polluting vehicles still result in a lock-in of pollution, especially evident incities.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Current policies on climate, energy and transport
In 2009, the Government of India released the first-ever National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).
The plan has eight missions that define broad policy directions for reducing India’s emissions intensity:i) National Solar Mission; ii) National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency; iii) National Mission on
Sustainable Habitat; iv) National Water Mission; v) National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan
Ecosystem; vi) National Mission for a Green India; vii) National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture; andviii) National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change.
The Mission on Sustainable Habitat outlines measures to reduce emissions in the transport sector. The
Mission proposes modal shift and better urban planning in order to move towards low carbon transportsystems. It also encourages the promotion of alternative fuels and suggests the need for research anddevelopment in biofuels. Hydrogen has also been recognised as a potential future energy source for thetransport sector.
In 2015, with its first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), India committed to reduce the emissions
intensity of its GDP by 33%-35% by 2030 compared to 2005 (Government of India, 2015). The NDC has
also set the target for 40% of India’s installed electricity capacity to be renewable or nuclear by 2030. In
addition, India’s NDC includes the creation of an additional carbon sink by increasing forest and tree cover,plus enhanced investment in vulnerable sectors to adapt to climate change.
The Indian government has long recognised the importance of tackling climate change. In 2002, India
hosted the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change in New Delhi, where the Delhi Ministerial Declaration was adopted, calling for developed countries
to transfer technology in an effort to minimise the impact of climate change on developing countries. This
stance is consistent with the significant flows of climate funds received by the country and the ambitious
goals regarding clean energy and transport technology deployment (Timperley, 2019).

Transport focus
India’s policies on climate, energy and transport – including measures found in the NDC – can be broadly
categorised in three groups: travel demand and modal choice management, energy efficiency, anddiversification towards low-carbon energy vectors.
Travel demand and modal choice management

India’s NDC includes measures that are directly related to travel demand and modal choice management,
aiming to foster economic competitiveness and the relevance of energy efficient modes, such as public
transport, rail and waterborne transport. These include, in particular, the pledge to construct 550 km of
metro lines (under construction) plus a further 600 km (under consideration), the approval of 39 urban
transport and mass rapid transport projects and the construction of two dedicated rail freight corridors:
1 520 km Mumbai-Delhi (Western Dedicated Freight Corridor) and 1 856 km Ludhiana-Dankuni (Eastern
Dedicated Freight Corridor). The NDC also encourages promotion of coastal shipping and inland watertransport, as well as committing to increase the share of railways in total land transport from 36% to 45%(Government of India, 2015). Speaking at the India Energy Forum CERAWeek 2019, Minister of Railways,

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Piyush Goyal stated: “by 2030, we are working to make the Indian railways the world's first net-zero
railway” (Energyworld, 2019).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that USB 1.4 trillion would be invested in economic and social
infrastructure projects through the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) between 2019 and 2025 (Ministryof Finance, 2019). Between 2020 and 2025, sectors such as energy (24%), roads (18%), urban (17%), ports
and airports (2%) and railways (12%) amount to around 73% of the projected capital expenditure on
infrastructure in India (Department of Economic Affairs, 2020). Within the transport sector, projects worth
USD 831 billion have been identified, relating primarily to: roads and bridges, railway tracks, urban public
transport, ports, airports and aviation infrastructure, railway terminal infrastructure, railway rolling stock,
shipyards, highways (India Investment Grid, 2020).
These policy objectives can be framed in the broader context of recent policy developments on urban
transport planning in India. Prior to 2005, only the large cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata
had developed urban transport plans (Gijre and Gupta, 2020). Urban transport functions are now devolved
to state governments, and states look up to national guidelines to take action (see Box 3 for details).
Box 3. Policies affecting urban transport
Urban transport in India is managed at the national level by three ministries: Housing and Urban Affairs(MoHUA), Railways and Road Transport, and Highways. The MoHUA acts as the nodal ministry for coordination, appraisal and approval of urban transport issues (Gijre and Gupta, 2020). The constitution ofIndia includes urban development and urban transport as a function of the states and, following
amendment, has further devolved urban development, strengthening lower tiers of the administration.
The MoHUA develops policy guidelines (and in certain cases, provides financial assistance for urban issues),
however, these are not binding on state and local governments.
The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) was introduced in 2006 and focuses on the movement ofpeople rather than vehicles on Indian roads. It acknowledges the need to reduce air pollution andunderlines the need for cities to promote public transport, integrate walking and cycling and manage theuse of private vehicles, by way of comprehensive mobility plans. The NUTP also recommends theestablishment of a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) in cities with over a million
inhabitants.11 UMTAs are a function under the state government and in some large cities, such as
Hyderabad and Chennai, these exist at a city level.12 Many of the early UMTAs were created to satisfy the
mandatory requirement for a city or state to have a UMTA in order to receive certain funds under the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) (Kalra, 2020). Among established UMTAs,
Hyderabad’s is seen as strong with a clear organisational and decision-making structure. Powers andresponsibilities are given to the UMTA to approve transport projects and convene necessary stakeholders
to implement local transport policy. Urban development authorities, municipal administrations andtransport ministries in the states also develop committees to integrate transport planning tasks that fallunder various agencies and departments. These structures might improve inter-agency information flow,
but the need for technical capacity is not formally addressed. A detailed record of spatial and transport
data at an urban level is also absent in many of the cities.13
The Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy was introduced by MoHUA in 2017 to support land-use
integration with metro rail and other mass transit projects. It also addresses urban development within
500-800 metres around mass transit stations, promoting high density areas (also referring to land value
capture), encouraging active transport connectivity and the design of streets for universal accessibility forpeople with reduced mobility.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

The Green Urban Mobility Scheme 2017 also encourages public-private partnerships for mass transit
projects, such as metro rail projects (India Today, 2017). Over a period of seven years, its main aim is topromote hybrid/electric vehicles and non-fossil fuels in 103 cities with more than 500 000 inhabitants. Theinterventions include setting up footpaths, public bike sharing schemes, bus rapid transit systems andclean fuels for public transport. Part of the funds required to implement these interventions will becontributed by central government (30%), urban local bodies (10%) and the remaining from multi-lateralagencies by way of loans.
The Metro Rail Policy 2017 was approved by the cabinet in August 2017. The policy highlights the need for
quality public transport that can meet the mobility needs of a growing urban population. The policy looks
at metro rail growth in recent years and underlines the need to standardise norms and develop a
procurement framework for implementing metro rail projects. The policy recommends multi-modaltransport in cities, of which metro rail forms the backbone. It also advises cities to develop comprehensive
mobility plans (CMP) and focus on developing a UMTA as a statutory body to develop the CMP and manage
an Urban Transport Fund (UTF). It also recommends that urban local bodies are considered stakeholders
in metro rail projects. The policy also underlines the need for TOD and for feeder services to the metro toreach a catchment area of at least 5 km2 for each metro station. Land value capture is also recommended
as a strategy to finance metro rail projects through a special purpose vehicle/agency implementing themetro rail project (MoHUA, 2017).
Energy efficiency in transport

India developed several energy efficiency flagship programmes in the framework of its National Mission
on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, although these focus on the industry and business sectors (IEA, 2020b).
However, India’s NDC refers to the use of fuel-efficiency standards as instruments that allow the
improvement of energy efficiency in transport and the promotion of hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs).
In January 2014, the government set CO2 emission targets for passenger cars at the equivalent of 130
grammes of CO2 per kilometre (g CO2/km) in 2017 and 113 g CO2/km in 2022 (Transportpolicy, 2021a). In
August 2017, India was one of the first countries in the world to publish fuel efficiency standards forcommercial heavy-duty vehicles. Phase 1 came in effect in April 2018, while Phase 2 will become effectivein April 2021 (Garg and Sharpe, 2017). These standards are still based on simplified engine testing
standards and will need to be upgraded to rely on more sophisticated testing tools, possibly through theadaptation of the Vehicle Energy Consumption Calculation Tool (VECTO) developed by the European
Commission (Sharpe et al., 2019). Additional regulations aim to limit the emissions of local pollutants fromcars and heavy road transport vehicles (Box 4).
Box 4. Recent policy developments to mitigate emissions of local pollutants from transport
In 2016, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways issued a draft notification of Bharat Stage (BS) VI
emission standards for motor vehicles, effective April 2020, on a par with EURO 6 and VI standards for lightand heavy road vehicles (Transportpolicy, 2021b; Transportpolicy, 2021c; IEA, 2020b).
The same year, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas also announced a nationwide supply of BS VI
fuel in conjunction with the proposed BS VI emission standard. The BS VI standard specifies 10 parts per
million (ppm) sulphur for petrol and diesel fuels.
The BS VI regulation establishes an important precedent by leapfrogging regulations equivalent to Euro 4
and IV.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Energy efficiency policies will need to be updated, extended and complemented to ensure consistency
with the Paris Climate Agreement (GFEI, 2020). In India, the government has already started to undertake
an ambitious journey to electrify its vehicle fleet. An important milestone in this process was the 2017
declaration by Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Power at the time, who called initially for a ban on petrol anddiesel car sales by 2030 (Times of India, 2017), a target that was revised down in 2018 to 30% of the new
car market (Government of India, 2018) and that was later complemented by a stated ambition to electrify
all three-wheelers by 2023 and two-wheelers by 2025 (Government of India, 2019).
The transition to EVs has been propelled by various factors, among which are the international
commitments that India has ratified (such as the Paris Accord), growing GHG emissions from the transport
sector, and the deteriorating air quality that now ranks Indian cities as amongst the most polluted cities
globally. Additionally, the transition to new technologies is also expected to rejuvenate the Indian economy
with innovative ventures (ILO, 2018).
EV promotion is rooted in the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 (adopted in 2013),
which laid out a roadmap to accelerate the adoption and manufacture of electric and hybrid vehicles in
the country, with the aim of achieving national fuel security. Under NEMMP, the Faster Adoption and
Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV (FAME) scheme was introduced in 2015 with an initial budget of INR 8.95
billion (Indian rupees) (equivalent to USD 130 million). It aimed at reducing the upfront purchase price ofhybrid and EVs to stimulate early adoption and market creation. Under Phase I of the scheme, more than
270 000 hybrid and EV sales were promoted. Between 2015 and 2017, out of the total vehicles that
benefited from the scheme, mild hybrid four-wheelers accounted for 66%, strong hybrid cars 1.7% andbattery-electric cars 1%.14 From April 2017, the government stopped extending benefits to mild hybrid
vehicles under the FAME scheme (Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, 2017), as a way toscale up strong hybrids and battery-operated EVs. However, in 2019, the Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways wrote to the finance ministry asking for the goods and services tax on hybrid vehicles to be
reduced and brought in line with levels for EVs (The Economic Times, 2019). Although the tax rates were
not equalised, the move was seen as a departure from the government's earlier stand of moving directlyfrom internal combustion engines to EVs.
In 2018, the Ministry of Power launched the National E-Mobility Programme to be implemented by Energy
Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). This programme aims to incentivise vehicle manufacturers, charging
infrastructure companies, fleet operators and service providers to achieve economies of scale and drive
down costs, to create local manufacturing facilities and to improve technical competencies for the longterm growth of the EV industry. The programme includes a public procurement pillar with the aim to create
demand for EVs through the early electrification of government-owned fleets, however EESL has faced
significant implementation challenges in this regard (IEA, 2019c).
Phase II of the FAME scheme began in April 2019, with the budget significantly increased to over INR 100
billion (USD 1.4 billion). Its aim is to provide upfront incentives on public transport, such as procuring moree-buses and to support the deployment of charging infrastructure.
At national level, several ministries and departments have formulated policies that support the national
EV transition strategy. At state level, transport departments have also developed EV policies aimed atproviding charging infrastructure, offering subsidies for EVs and setting targets to electrify fleets forgovernment vehicles and public transport. More than ten states in India have final or draft EV policies that
support the national electric mobility policies including: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. States withdraft policies include: Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Most state EV policies prioritise two-

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

and three-wheelers, public transportation, and job creation. Telangana state government targets 100%
electric public transport by 2030 and Karnataka state aims to operate 100% electric three- and fourwheeled freight vehicles by 2030.
In addition to government interventions, industry demand has seen an increase in EV manufacture andsales, and the private sector is also investing in infrastructure for charging and battery swapping
technologies (NITI Aayog and Rocky Mountain Institute, 2019).
The transition towards electric two- and three-wheelers is picking up significant pace (KPMG, 2020). For
the financial year 2019-20, more than 0.5 million EVs were registered in India, including electric two- andthree-wheelers, rickshaws, cars and e-buses (CEEW - Centre for Energy Finance, 2020). The various
incentives from national government and the potential seen from the private sector has given a chancefor existing and new business to seize the EV market. Shared e-mobility systems are on the rise, operatorssuch as Ola Cabs have initiated electric mobility services and Yulu bikes, a Bangalore based start-up, hasmore than 2 000 e-bikes and over 200 bike stations in Bangalore and Delhi (Kumar et al., 2020). On the
manufacturing side, key EV players, such as Mahindra and Maruti, have announced new manufacturing
facilities solely for EVs (Gaurav et al., 2019).
Low-carbon energy vectors

Achieving effective GHG emission reduction from transport electrification requires a transition to lowcarbon electricity, especially for light vehicles such as passenger cars.
The Government of India has successfully undertaken a series of actions that could allow India to meet its
energy intensity and electricity sector decarbonisation pledges ahead of schedule (Slater, 2020).
Nevertheless, coal currently continues to be the largest domestic source of energy in India and electricity
generation and coal supply has increased rapidly since the early 2000s (IEA, 2020b).
In 2018, India’s investment in solar photovoltaic was greater than in all fossil fuel sources of electricity
combined, and the country installed almost as much new solar generating capacity as the United States(IEA, 2020b; Slater, 2020). Large-scale auctions have contributed to swift renewable energy developmentat rapidly decreasing prices, and in 2019, allowed India to deploy 84 gigawatts (GW) of grid-connected
renewable electricity capacity (out of 366 GW of total electricity generation capacity, including more than
220 GW of coal plants) (IEA, 2020b). These developments are not only enabling the country to moveconfidently towards its target of 175 GW of renewables by 2022, with expectations of reaching 225 GW(Timperley, 2019), but also to aim for an electricity mix that could eventually include 450 GW of renewableenergy capacity, as announced in September 2019 by the Indian Prime Minister (Timperley, 2019; IEA,
2020b). The cost competitiveness of renewable electricity with respect to coal was also underlined in a
recent statement by Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, who stated that 50%
of coal for power generation will be uncompetitive in 2022, rising to 85% by 2025. In the same statement,
Guterres commended India for its decision to take forward the International Solar Alliance and its plans
for a World Solar Bank, which will mobilise USD 1 trillion of investments in solar projects over the coming
decade (United Nations, 2020).
Low carbon fuels, including sustainably produced biofuel, are another mode of reducing the carbon
intensity of transport movements. The fiscal treatment of petroleum products (petrol, diesel andkerosene) has a central role to play in this context. In India, petrol and diesel are subject to an excise duty
imposed by the central government, and a value-added tax (VAT) and dealer commission, imposed by thestate oil companies (IEA, 2020b). Compared with other major developing energy markets, India has

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

significantly higher road transport fuel prices, but it does not apply any explicit tax related with the carbon
content of the fuels.
A diesel subsidy ended in 2014/15 (IEA, 2020b), however, kerosene was still subsidised by the government
in 2019, although its price is being gradually increased to phase out the subsidies (IEA, 2020b). India is also
a signatory to the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) by theInternational Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), although it has not signed up for the voluntary pilot phase(Timperley, 2019).
In 2018, India defined an updated National Policy on Biofuels, which sets an indicative target of 20%
blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel by 2030 (Ministry of Petroleum andNatural Gas, 2018).15 This goal is to be achieved by: i) reinforcing ongoing ethanol and biodiesel supplies
by increasing domestic production; ii) setting up second generation (2G) bio refineries; iii) developing new
feedstock for biofuels; iv) developing new technologies for conversion to biofuels; and v) creating asuitable environment for biofuels and the integration with main fuels.
The updated biofuels policy also outlines specific measures, including additional tax incentives, anadministratively set higher purchase price and investment support (IEA, 2020b). India’s ethanol production
comes from molasses residue feedstock, a by-product from the sugar industry, raising few sustainability
concerns. Furthermore, a feedstock extension in the new biofuels policy takes account of food production,for example, only allowing damaged grains, which also has limited sustainability concerns (IEA, 2020b).
Sustainable production of biofuels, however, is an issue that could gain relevance if production is to bescaled up to meet the 2030 target.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has also been supporting the research, development
and demonstration of hydrogen, acknowledging that developing hydrogen as an energy vector comes withchallenges in production, storage, technology development, infrastructure, energy economy and public
acceptance. In particular, the MNRE set up a National Hydrogen Energy Board, which in 2006 outlined a
blueprint for hydrogen energy development in a National Hydrogen Energy Road Map (MNRE, 2006). The
document indicates that hydrogen has been used as a raw material and utility over a long period in thefertilizer, chemical and petroleum refining industries. It identifies internal combustion engines andturbines, as well as fuel cells, as potential applications for transport, yet acknowledges that thesetechnologies have not matched the performance of competing devices and systems and were not costeffective. The Road Map also highlighted hydrogen production as a key area of concern, underlining theneed to urgently develop low-cost and low-carbon (preferably carbon free) hydrogen production
pathways.
More recent analysis, in India and beyond, also identifies hydrogen as a possible option for use in fuel cells
for trucking and as a feedstock for other transport fuels (including electrofuels). Hydrogen could
additionally help balance supply and demand in the power sector (where hydrogen can provide a
supplementary role to renewables and batteries) and replace fossil fuels in industry (Hall, 2020; IEA,
2019d). These analyses flag that production costs for low-carbon hydrogen are still higher than fossil-fuelbased hydrogen or other fossil-fuel equivalents, but they suggest that parity could be reached in the future.
Achieving meaningful results from a climate change perspective will require production to take place not
only from pathways that lead to very low CO2 emissions, but that are also reliant on low-carbon energy,
due to limitations in the thermodynamic efficiency of hydrogen production and use, compared with thecase of direct electrification.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Projected developments for transport
decarbonisation
A number of universities, think-tanks, companies and multinational organisations have aimed to quantify
future transport demand and CO2 emissions for the Indian transport sector, taking into account current
conditions, existing policies and technologies, as well as future developments.
Modelling future transport demand is reliant on a number of assumptions and data inputs. No modelledresults should be considered to be a definite indication of the future, modelling inputs are unlikely to be
the same for different modelling exercises and results are dependent upon the quality of the data andassumptions made in the model. However, they provide an important quantitative basis for decision
making.
A selection of results from a number of modelling exercises regarding transport, energy and GHG emissions
are presented and compared in the following Section, with a view to identifying key trends and aspects
that future work on transport decarbonisation in India should take into account.

Travel demand projections
The organisations in Table 1 have all undertaken modelling efforts to quantify transport activity and CO2
emissions in India and to understand how they might change in the future, taking into account different
policy frameworks. Scenarios produced by the organisations can be broadly classified into three different
categories: business-as-usual (BAU), new policy and high ambition scenarios.


BAU scenarios are intended to estimate future levels of transport demand and emissions in theabsence of further government policy. Therefore, main drivers of change in BAU scenarios aremacroeconomic effects such as population and economic growth. BAU scenarios account for the
influence of current enacted government policy. However, policy measures that have beenannounced but are yet to be enacted are not considered.



New policy scenarios aim to determine the effect of all announced policy measures, thoughaspirational targets that are yet to be substantiated with detailed regulation tend to be excluded.

High ambition scenarios aim to determine the effect that new stringent government policy (thathas not necessarily already been announced) can have on improving a number of outcomes forthe transport sector, such as reducing CO2 emissions.

Scenarios for passenger road transport demand (expressed in pkm) in a new policy context are presented
in Figure 7. According to these assessments, passenger road transport demand is set to grow 300%-500%
between 2010 and 2050, driven by growth in population and GDP per capita, which are set to expand byaround 27% and 360% respectively (IMF, 2020; United Nations, 2019).
A large degree of uncertainty exists in both estimates of road transport pkm in the base year, as well as
the rates of growth between models. This uncertainty is driven by the limited availability and accuracy ofpassenger transport statistics. Uncertainty is further compounded by differences in model structure andassumptions made by each organisation and, following the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, on the nature of
the recovery that will ensue (among the scenarios shown in Figure 7, only the IEA and ITF results include
the effects of the pandemic).
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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Table 1. Organisations publishing Indian transport sector projections
AcronymOrganisation

CEEW

Council on Energy, Environment and Water

CSTEP

Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy

ICCTInternational Council on Clean Transportation

IEA

International Energy Agency

IRADe

Integrated Research and Action for Development

ITF

International Transport Forum

PNNL

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

TERI

The Energy and Resources Institute

Figure 7. Future road passenger transport demand in India (trillion passenger kilometres), 2010-50

30

New policy scenarios

30

Passenger demand in 2050
TERI

TERI

25

Trillion pkm

CSTEP
IEA
ITF
PNNL
CEEW

15
10

IRADe

20

CSTEP

15
CEEW
PNNL

10

TERI
TERI
IRADe
CSTEP
IEA
ITF
PNNL
CEEW

IRADe
IEA
CSTEP
PNNL
CEEW
ITF

5

5
0
2010

Trillion pkm

IRADe

20

25

0
2020

2030

2040

2050

BAU

New Policy

High Ambition

Source: ITF analysis based on ITF (forthcoming), IEA (2020d) and data shared by the ICCT from CSTEP, CEEW,
IRADe, PNNL and TERI (Shakti Foundation, 2019).

Road passenger transport demand in the year 2050 for each model and scenario is presented in Figure 7(right). BAU scenarios for each model have the highest results. Adding in new policy announcements
lowers estimates of demand, highlighting the importance of following through with existing
announcements. High ambition scenarios produce the lowest estimates of road passenger transportdemand in all scenarios, apart from the IEA high ambition scenario, which shows a slight increase over its
new policy scenario. Policies such as better urban planning and fuel (or carbon) taxation can help reduce
passenger kilometres by 0%-33% from new policy scenario levels in 2050.
Rail passenger transport is also projected to increase significantly. In an assessment compatible with thenew policy scenario (but pre-dating the Covid-19 pandemic), the IEA indicated rail passenger transport
could reach 3.7 trillion pkm in 2050, more than doubling compared with 2017, and broadly maintaining
today’s level of rail share in passenger transport (IEA, 2019a). In the same analysis, the IEA also underlinedthat the government of India has launched a number of initiatives aiming to enhance overall mobility© OECD/ITF 2021

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

across all modes of transport through improved infrastructure, including through the expansion ofrailways.
In 2019, India stated its aim to construct around 100 new airports in the following 10-15 years and, prior
to the Covid-19 pandemic, was set to become the world’s third largest aviation market by 2020 (Timperley,2019). Passenger numbers for domestic and international flights (not included in Figure 7) doubled
between 2010 and 2019 and were projected to triple by the late 2030s (Timperley, 2019), however
following Covid-19, and depending on the nature of the recovery, it may take a further five years to reachthis level (IATA, 2020).
Future scenarios for road freight transport developments (expressed in tkm) are presented in Figure 8.
Levels of freight transport are expected to grow significantly over the next decades, despite differences inmagnitude across different modelling exercises. Road freight activity is also estimated to be relatively
similar between BAU and new policy scenarios across the board, with some high ambition scenarios
showing slight reductions, reflecting supply chain improvements.
Figure 8. Future road freight transport demand in India (trillion tonne kilometres), 2010-50

18

New policy scenarios
TERI

16
14

14

12

12

10

IRADe
CSTEP
ITF
IEA

8
6
4

CEEW
PNNL

2
0
2010

Road freight demand in 2050

16

Trillion tkm

Trillion tkm

18

10
8

TERI

TERI

TERI

CSTEP
IRADe

IRADe
CSTEP
ITF
IEA

IRADe
CSTEP

6
4

CEEW
PNNL

2

CEEW
PNNL

IEA
ITF
CEEW
PNNL

0
2020

2030

2040

2050

BAU

New Policy

High Ambition

Source: ITF analysis based on: ITF (forthcoming), IEA (2020d) and data shared by the ICCT from CSTEP, CEEW,
IRADe, PNNL and TERI (Shakti Foundation, 2019).

Increases are also foreseen for freight rail and maritime freight, although growth is projected to be at alower rate than for other modes.
In particular, freight rail tkm in India is projected to more than triple, according to IEA new policy scenarios(IEA, 2019a), where rail retains a predominant role as a carrier of bulk materials, but also suffers fromincreased competition for other goods. Overall, both passenger and freight rail activity in India is projected
to grow much more quickly than in other countries. Transportation of coal represents a large proportionof freight rail activity, therefore a drop in coal use for electricity generation (compatible with a highambition decarbonisation framework) comes with lower prospects for rail activity, unless the rail sector is
successful in increasing its competitiveness for the movement of other goods (namely containers). New
policy scenarios for maritime freight activity show projected increases close to a factor of ten comparedwith 2015 (IEA, 2020d).

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Notwithstanding additional uncertainties on the pace of the recovery of economic growth following theCovid-19 pandemic, all scenarios suggest a rapid expansion in levels of Indian transport activity, regardlessof differences that exist across different modelling exercises.

Impacts on energy and greenhouse gas emissions
The growing demand for transportation and vehicle use is projected to lead to growing energy use andCO2 emissions by 2050 in all modelling exercises. Figure 9 shows final energy consumption from Indianinland road transport (both passenger and freight) for new policy and high ambition scenarios.
Figure 9. Future final energy consumption (exajoules) from road transport in India, 2010-50
14

New policy scenarios

12

14

TERI

10

CSTEP
CEEW

8

EJ

PNNL
IRADe

6

EJ

8

4

2

2

2020

2030

2040

2050

PNNL
IEA
ITF
ICCT
IRADe

6

4

0
2010

TERI

12

ITF
CSTEP
IEA
CEEW

10

High ambition scenarios

0
2010

2020

2030

2040

2050

Source: ITF analysis based on ITF (forthcoming), IEA (2020d) and data shared by the ICCT from CSTEP, CEEW,
IRADe, PNNL and TERI (Shakti Foundation, 2019).

In new policy scenarios, increases in passenger and freight inland transport activity lead to energy use
growing between 300%-600%, primarily due to increased vehicle use. Energy efficiency improvements are
more than offset by an increased number of vehicles and a growing share of travel by more energyintensive modes, such as passenger cars.
The rapid growth in energy use is set to cause a similarly large increase in CO2 emissions, unless new policy
measures are introduced. Figure 10 compares direct CO2 emissions from the Indian road transport sector(the main source of direct GHG emissions for inland transport) for new policy and high ambition scenarios.
The increase in CO2 emissions in new policy scenarios are predicted to be between 200%-540% (althoughsubject to uncertainties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic), which highlights that existing policy
announcements are likely insufficient to cause a peak in CO2 emissions for inland transport before 2050.
This means that further policy action is required to mitigate GHG emissions in a way that could meet theambition of the Paris Agreement.
The results of high ambition scenarios, Figure 10 (right), show that new policy announcements can play animportant role in reducing future CO2 emissions in road transport. Maximising opportunities to develop
compact cities, avoiding urban sprawl, incentivising modal shifts away from private passenger vehicles,
enhancing the extent of energy efficiency improvements, including by stimulating the adoption of EVs andlow carbon fuels, are all important policy measures in this regard. In four of the eight models (two of which© OECD/ITF 2021

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

attempt to include the impact of Covid-19), CO2 emissions in high ambition scenarios can peak before
2050.
Comparing the high ambition results considered here with the assessment of available emission budgets
carried out by Climate Action Tracker (Climate Action Tracker, 2021), suggests that the results shown in
Figure 10 (right) are likely compatible with a 2-degree mitigation pathway, especially for the four modelling
exercises at the bottom of the range. This comparison, however, also suggests that for India to achieve net
zero emissions shortly after 2050 (a result that could ensure compliance with a 1.5 degree scenario) would
require additional policy action.
Figure 10. Future direct CO2 emissions from road transport in India (million tonnes CO2 equivalent), 201050
1 000

1 000

New policy scenarios

High ambition scenarios

TERI
CSTEP

600

IEA
CEEW
ITF

400

PNNL
IRADe

200

0
2010

MtCO2

MtCO2

800

800

TERI

600

CSTEP
CEEW

ICCT
PNNL
IRADe

400

200

2020

2030

2040

2050

0
2010

IEA
ITF

2020

2030

2040

2050

Source: ITF analysis based on: ITF (forthcoming), IEA (2020d) and data shared by the ICCT from CSTEP, CEEW,
IRADe, PNNL and TERI (Shakti Foundation, 2019).

Despite uncertainties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, this assessment confirms that a range of policy
actions will be crucial to ensure the objectives of the Paris Agreement and other United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals are met.
Domestic and international aviation and shipping (excluded from the results shown in Figure 10, but
significant contributors to the total energy use and direct CO2 emissions from transport vehicles) will alsoneed to be subject to significant policy action to ensure that global goals are met.

24

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The importance of taking a holistic approach totransport decarbonisation
The results summarised in the previous Chapter are limited to direct CO2 emissions produced at the vehicle
tailpipe (also known as tank-to-wheel). Nevertheless, energy and emission impacts from transport alsoneed to consider contributions from fuel production (and electricity generation in the case of EVs). These
upstream emissions, also known as well-to-tank, represent a growing share of future transport emissions
as alternative energy vectors, such as electricity, hydrogen, biofuels and electrofuels displace conventional
petroleum-based fuels.
The carbon intensity of electricity production, for example, is dependent on the sources of energy used
and is an important component of the total emissions associated with the use of EVs over their lifetime.
Minimising these emissions will be crucial to ensure that global decarbonisation goals set out in the Paris
Agreement are met. Similar considerations apply for vehicles that rely on hydrogen or other energy vectorsthat could replace petroleum products.
Assessments focused solely on tank-to-wheel energy use and GHG emissions also omit emissions produced
during vehicle manufacture and disposal. As with well-to-tank emissions, these are also set to grow inimportance in the coming decades. EVs, for example, do not produce tailpipe CO2 emissions and may use
low GHG emission energy from electricity production (e.g. if electricity is from renewable energy), however
they incur higher energy use and GHG emissions than combustion engine vehicles during manufacture andend-of-life disposal.16 Similar considerations apply for fuel cell EVs. Additionally, the relative importance ofemissions occurring in vehicle manufacturing depends on a range of factors including lifetime mileage.
Energy use and GHG emissions also accompany the construction, maintenance and end-of-life
management of infrastructure (e.g. roads, railways, airports and ports) required for the delivery oftransport services. As with vehicle manufacturing, energy use and GHG emissions associated withtransport infrastructure derive from materials extraction, processing, infrastructure construction,
operation, maintenance and end-of-life treatment. In particular, energy use and emissions attributable totransport infrastructure include impacts due to materials – namely steel and cement – that are currently
produced from carbon-intensive industrial processes.
New mobility services, such as shared micromobility17 and ridesourcing18, also add energy needs andenvironmental effects given the need for servicing (including refuelling or charging), repositioning andparking for shared vehicles and the need for vehicle movements without passengers (ITF, 2020).
The impacts due to energy and GHG emissions throughout the entire lifecycle and supply chain of transport
services, on the top of final energy use and direct GHG emissions, have a significant magnitude. For
example, for a passenger car produced with current technologies, using a combustion engine, running on
petroleum fuel in an urban environment with paved roads, GHG emissions per vehicle kilometre due tofuel production and vehicle manufacturing can add 30% to direct GHG emissions from the tailpipe. Road
infrastructure can contribute a further 10% in cities, and more in rural areas (ITF, 2020). Results are similar
for urban buses, although higher mileage roughly halves the relevance of vehicle manufacturing andinfrastructure construction (ITF, 2020).
This underlines the importance of ensuring that energy efficiency and GHG emission mitigation measuresin the transport sector are developed with a holistic perspective on energy and environmental impacts,
based on a “cradle to grave” analysis. This same approach is necessary to establish the full environmental© OECD/ITF 2021

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

impacts of the transport sector, since these impacts extend beyond energy use and GHG emissions andinclude local air pollutants, effects on water use and habitat change.
The uptake of new types of vehicles, sources of energy and business models in the transport sector may
also be accompanied by a greater integration of these systems across the economy. For example, batteries
are not only an energy storage device needed on EVs, but also something that could help optimiseelectricity distribution systems. Similarly, hydrogen may not only be relevant as a transport energy vector,
but also as a way to store electricity produced from renewables when production exceeds demand.
The cross-sectoral nature of these developments requires enhanced capacity to co-operate between
different parts of the public administration (e.g. transport ministries with energy ministries), which are
likely to benefit significantly from an increased capacity to evaluate different options on a holistic basis.
Major economies, such as the European Union and the United States, have already equipped themselveswith tools capable of assessing transport systems by taking a lifecycle approach, key examples include:

The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model
developed by the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL, 2020a; ANL, 2020b), which covers both
vehicle and fuel components in two different modules and has already been used to support policy
developments in California (Wang, 2018), in particular its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (ARB, 2019),
and at the ICAO (ICAO, 2021).



The well-to-wheel assessment developed in a collaborative effort of the Joint Research Centre(JRC) of the European Commission, the European Council for Automotive Research andDevelopment (EUCAR) and the European Oil Company Organisation for the Conservation of Clean
Air and Water in Europe (Concawe). This effort targets primarily the evaluation of energy use and
GHG emissions for different road fuel and powertrain configurations in Europe (JEC, 2020). It has
been instrumental in the European Union for the development of policy instruments, such as theFuel quality and the Renewable energy Directives (European Commission, 2021a; European
Commission, 2021b).

Recent academic research has also looked at the lifecycle of transport infrastructure, with a particularfocus on road and rail in North America (Transportation life-cycle assessment, 2020), building on earlier
research by some of these same researchers (Chester and Horvath, 2009).
India, which is a large and rapidly growing economy, will have a key role in addressing climate change
mitigation. To this end, the country should work to develop tools for the assessment of energy and GHG
emission impacts from different transport services from a lifecycle perspective. Depending on the systemboundaries that define them, lifecycle assessments can have a flexible scope of application and, therefore,taking this approach will also enable the project to deliver tools that could be suitable for use at different
administrative levels, e.g. for country- and city-level analyses.

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Annex
List of key stakeholders for the Indian transport sector
Institution

Description of relevant role(s)NITI Aayog

The transport vertical at NITI Aayog is committed to promoting and facilitating efficient,sustainable, environmentally friendly multi-modal transport systems. Actively contributing
towards the development of a roadmap for India’s mobility and designated as the nodal
agency for the promotion of electric vehicle (EV) solutions.

Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways (MoRTH)

Responsible for Road Transport, National Highways and Transport Research policies, with aview to increasing the mobility and efficiency of the road transport system.

Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs (MoHUA)

Has a dedicated Urban Transport Wing responsible for co-ordination, appraisal and approvalof urban transport matters, including: BRT systems, urban transit infrastructure and metro
rail projects.

Ministry of Railways (MoR)

Exercises all central government policy powers and administers, supervises, and directs theentities that provide most of the rail services in India.

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA)

Responsible for the formulation of national policies for the development and regulation of
the civil aviation sector.

Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change (MoEFCC)

The nodal agency for planning, co-ordination and overseeing the implementation of India’s
environmental and forestry policies.

Ministry of Power (MoP):

MoP is involved in the electric mobility transformation. EESL is set up under the MoP, to
Energy Efficiency Services Limited create and sustain markets for energy efficiency. EESL works closely with BEE and is leading
the market related activities of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency under(EESL)
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) NAPCC.
Ministry of New and Renewable
EnergyThe nodal ministry for all matters relating to new and renewable energy.

Ministry of Heavy Industries andPublic Enterprises

Responsible for promoting the automobile industry. A key stakeholder for this project,liaising with the auto and ancillary industry and for developing appropriate vehicle standards.

Logistics division in the
Department of Commerce

Responsible for developing an action plan for the integrated development of the logistics
sector, by way of policy changes, improving existing procedures, identifying bottlenecks andencouraging technological development in the sector.

Ministry of Ports, Shipping andWaterways

The apex body for formulating and administering the rules, regulations and laws relating toports, shipping and waterways, including shipbuilding and repair, major ports, national
waterways and inland water transport.

Ministry of Finance

Given the relevance of taxation and financial legislation for transport, energy and climate
policies, it has a significant relevance for the work on transport decarbonisation.

Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM)

An important link between industry and the policy-making process, and for identifying
appropriate technological interventions possible within the current Indian auto-industry
framework.

Society of Manufacturers ofElectric Vehicles (SMEV)

Registered association representing Indian manufacturers of EV and EV components.

Automotive Component
Representing the Indian auto component manufacturers, giving insights into the auto
Manufacturers Association of India components industry in India, and identifying the policy enablers required to become an EV(ACMA)
eco-space.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Federation of Indian Chambers of Largest and oldest apex business organisation in India. Non-government and not-for-profit.
Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
Relevant sub sectors: Electric Mobility, Transport Infrastructure, Environment and Climate
Change, Renewable Energy, Hydrocarbons, Power and Urban Infrastructure and Smart Cities.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

Notes

1 For more information on the ITF Decarbonising Transport Initiative see www.itf-oecd.org/decarbonising-transport (accessed 30 January 2021).
2 The corridors being developed under Phase I include: Delhi-Meerut, Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Alwar, plus five more for the subsequent phases ofthe project. RRTS aims to provide savings of travel time and cost to encourage a shift to rail and hence reduce energy use and emissions, improveaccess to jobs and enhance economic activity in the region. The Thiruvananthapuram-Kasaragod Semi High-Speed Rail (SilverLine) Project isanother high-speed inter-urban rail project currently under construction and due to be completed by 2025. SilverLine would have an operating
speed of 200 kmph, reducing the total travel time to less than four hours, compared with the present 10 to 12 hours. The project also plans fortrains and stations to be 100% reliant on renewable energy sources (K-rail, 2020).
3 For example, between 2001-07 the public transport use in Bengaluru almost doubled, while the population of the city increased from 5.7 million
to about 8 million and the city size increased from 195 km2 to about 350 km2. This is due to the expansion and improvement of the Bengaluru
Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) services (Revi et al., 2015).
4 The cities in India are categorised on the basis of a grading structure devised by the Government of India. Following the recommendations of
the Sixth Central Pay Commission of 2008, the cities are categorised under sections X, Y and Z, based on population. Another term for the
categories is Tier-I, Tier-II and Tier-III cities, from largest to smallest, respectively. In 2015, Ministry of Finance classified 8 cities as Tier I and 88
cities as Tier II (Ministry of Finance, 2015).
5 In 2020, absolute values of car sales declined, with reported data for the period between April and October 2020 (the first half of India’s financialyear) dipping by 26% year-on-year (SIAM, 2020). In 2019, sales were 2.9 million (OICA, 2019; OICA, 2019).
6 If freight rail activity is outpaced by increased demand for passenger rail services, revenues from rail freight may fall short of the amounts needed
to subsidise passenger rail, requiring other revenue sources (e.g. from land value capture). Although investment in rail freight corridors should
help to limit the declining share of freight rail in total inland transport activity, it is also important to have the possibility of reducing rail freightcosts in order to keep prices competitive.
7 By March 2020, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) had authorised 230 geographical areas for development of the City
Gas Distribution (CGD) Network across the country, which covers around 71% of India’s population and 53% of its area (Ministry of Petroleum andNatural Gas, 2020). This translates to 402 districts in 27 states or Union Territories having access to CGD Networks for supply of natural gas. The
remaining areas will be covered in future bidding rounds subject to techno-commercial viability, natural gas pipeline connectivity and natural gas
availability.
8 Around 2 billion litres of ethanol are used as fuel across India. By 2017/18, the ethanol blending rate exceeded 4%, however the 5% ethanol
blending mandate was not met. India's biodiesel production is still at an early stage of development (IEA, 2020b)
9 The higher share of transport in final energy figures than in primary energy figures reflects the fact that there are greater losses in energy
transformation in sectors other than transport (e.g. industry and buildings). This is due to higher losses in electricity generation, which is currently
largely reliant on coal. A significant share of freight traffic is also for pipelines, which is not addressed here and are used entirely to transport liquidand gaseous fuels.
10 India, together with Europe, is the only major car market where diesel vehicles have a high market share.
11 In 2014, this policy was reviewed by the Institute of Urban Transport (IUT), which further elaborated on the need for an equitable allocation ofroad space for all users and the need to promote active transport in cities.
12 A common critique of UMTAs is that a UMTA mimics a conventional committee structure, and such committees have existed previously forspecific projects. It is also reported that many state and city level authorities have requested central government to provide guidelines andprocedures for the establishment, requirements and functions of UMTAs (Gijre and Gupta, 2020).
13 In addition to organisational defragmentation, there is also weak transport planning capacity at state and local levels. Cities usually develop acomprehensive mobility plan (CMP) covering their spatial jurisdictions. Many of these plans provide recommendations for urban transport
projects, but the required cost-benefit analysis is often unpublished in the CMPs. CMPs are a main source for transport related data about a city
as a substantial number of studies are conducted prior to developing the CMP, however in most cases CMP recommendations are not in line with
regional plans and master plans developed at state level.

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DECARBONISING INDIA’S TRANSPORT SYSTEM: CHARTING THE WAY FORWARD

14 Mild hybrids are internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with an assisting electric engine. They do not have an electric-only propulsion modeand their battery charges, for example, through regenerative breaking. The battery of both strong hybrid cars and battery-electric cars relies on
chargers connected to the power grid. Strong hybrid cars feature an electric motor and an ICE, while battery-electric cars rely exclusively onelectricity for propulsion.
15 India’s National Policy on Biofuels (2009) had a target to blend 20% biofuels into the diesel and petrol mix by 2017. However, India has fallen
well short of these targets, so far only reaching around 2% bioethanol and 0.1% biodiesel blend in 2018 (Timperley, 2019).
16 These processes include material extraction, processing, vehicle component fabrication (e.g. battery production), assembly, production anduse of fluids (e.g. lubricants, coolants), delivery to the point of sale, and end-of-life treatment when scrapped (i.e. the re-use, recycling or disposalof vehicle parts).
17 Shared micromobility options include e-scooter and bicycle sharing services, along with a broad range of other shared light mobility devices(ITF, 2020).
18 Ridesourcing refers to on-demand ride services delivered by ride-matching platforms such as Didi, Uber, Grab, Ola, Lyft, etc. It primarily targets
short passenger trips, often of less than 15 km, but can include longer journeys of up to 50 km, for example to and from airports (ITF, 2020).

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Decarbonising India’s
Transport System
This report presents an analysis of current transport activity in India
and reviews key policy instruments set up by Indian institutions
to shape transport developments in the coming years. It also
investigates future scenarios of transport in India and outlines key
aspects that should be considered in the upcoming work on transport
decarbonisation. The final section builds on these insights, charting
a way forward for a climate change mitigation strategy for the Indiantransport sector. In particular, it underlines the importance of taking
an approach that is not limited to direct GHG emission reductions but
takes into account a lifecycle perspective.

International Transport Forum
2 rue André Pascal
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contact@itf-oecd.org
www.itf-oecd.org

Supported by:based on a decision of the German Bundestag

Published: 02/2021 | Photo credit: Radiokafka| ShutterstockThis is the initial scoping paper for India within the ITF“Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies” project, funded byGermany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety (BMU).