In her Budget 2025 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the launch of the National Manufacturing Mission, a timely move to accelerate India’s industrial resurgence and advance the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
As the government now moves to implement this ambitious agenda, it must recognise that cleantech manufacturing is not just one of many sectors; it is the one that can lead the way.
This momentum has only grown after COP30 in Belém and the Johannesburg G20 Summit, both of which underscored that global industrial competitiveness will now hinge on clean energy supply chains, resilient manufacturing ecosystems and diversified critical mineral partnerships.
India’s climate commitments are bold and foundational to its future economic model. The country aims to reach 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity and 30 per cent electric vehicle sales by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.
But this transition isn’t just about meeting environmental goals — it’s about building a competitive, job-creating, and resilient economy.
The opportunity is massive: Dalberg analysis estimates that manufacturing of critical cleantech components in India could reach a market size of ₹6 lakh crore to ₹8 lakh crore per year by 2030.
At the same time, our reliance on imports for critical technologies, including solar modules, batteries, and green hydrogen components, is close to 80 per cent, leaving the country highly vulnerable. With targeted scaling of cleantech manufacturing, India could save an estimated ₹5-6 lakh crore in import bill by the end of this decade, with most of the savings accruing from imports from one country. Both COP30 and the G20 have reinforced the risks of over-concentration in supply chains and the need for countries to rapidly build domestic and regional resilience.
The case for cleantech to be the front-runner in the National Manufacturing Mission rests on three clear advantages. First, it is a growth engine.
Countries around the world are reconfiguring their industrial policies to focus on clean energy as the driver of competitiveness, as seen in the EU’s Green Deal.
COP30’s Declaration on Green Industrialisation and the G20’s call for scaling green value addition across the Global South have made this pivot unmistakable. India has the scale and timing advantage to become a serious player in this new global supply chain.
Second, cleantech is a jobs engine. Our analysis projects the creation of about 1 million direct cleantech manufacturing jobs by 2030 and, in line with existing estimates, up to 50 million net new jobs across India’s green economy by 2070, many of them in clean energy supply chains. These are high-quality jobs in sectors with global demand. Third, cleantech builds supply chain resilience.
As international partners, particularly in Europe, Japan, Korea, and the Nordic countries, seek to reduce their dependence on Chinese imports, India is well-positioned to become a preferred alternative, with its large domestic market, improved infrastructure, and a credible policy ecosystem.
To realize this opportunity, India must move quickly on five strategic fronts. First, the sector requires massive capital infusion.
An estimated total of ₹2 lakh crore in public investment by 2030 will be needed to unlock private capital across solar, wind, batteries, EVs, hydrogen and transmission. The establishment of a Green Manufacturing Finance Institution, an NBFC like the one recently established for the shipping industry, or a cleantech-focused revamp of the National Infrastructure Development Bank (NaBFID) is crucial to lowering the cost of capital and de-risking early investments.
This approach also aligns squarely with the COP30 finance agenda, including the mobilisation of at least USD 1.3 trillion annually by 2035 and the launch of country platforms to channel investment toward national priorities.
Second, India must scale up its cleantech R&D ecosystem. Our current R&D spending is just 0.6 pc of GDP. The GoI should aim to raise this to 1 pc by 2030 by offering incentives for industry-academia collaboration, matching grants for deep tech and global partnerships for technology transfer.
Innovation in components such as solar wafers, battery chemistries, and electrolysers can give India a proprietary edge in international markets. Some funds from the Research and Development Initiatives, with a budgetary allocation of ₹1 lakh crore, can be targeted towards cleantech R&D and innovation.
Third, India must secure the raw materials and machinery that power cleantech supply chains. This includes upstream investments in refining lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earths, areas where China currently dominates.
The recent G20 summit has explicitly elevated critical minerals, Indigenous processing, and Global South partnerships as core priorities, reaffirming the strategic importance of India’s “India Plus Many” approach. India must accelerate its ‘India Plus Many’ strategy: locking in bilateral deals with countries like Australia, Brazil, and South Africa, while investing in domestic reserves, recycling infrastructure, and machinery manufacturing.
To operationalize this strategy, India needs a three-part upstream approach.
First, scale up domestic refining capacity for battery minerals, with targeted fiscal incentives under the National Critical Minerals Mission. Second, strategic overseas acquisitions must be expanded through public-private vehicles like KABIL to secure long-term access to lithium, cobalt, and rare earth sources abroad. Third, the government should invest in a national circularity infrastructure, building over 150 battery waste collection centers and material recovery hubs across states by 2030, to reclaim critical inputs like lithium, nickel, and rare earths. This combination of refining, sourcing and recycling is essential to de-risk India’s cleantech transition from future geopolitical shocks and global price volatility.
Fourth, the country must address the green workforce gap. The cleantech transformation demands not just labor, but highly trained talent — across R&D, engineering, and manufacturing operations. This will require curriculum overhauls at ITIs and engineering colleges, global faculty exchanges and targeted skilling programs.
By 2030, India will need over one million trained professionals in cleantech manufacturing alone. Some funds from the current allocations of 60,000 crores to PMKVY and ITI upgradation schemes can be earmarked to build a skilled workforce for cleantech manufacturing.
Fifth, policy must create and protect domestic demand. Tools like Domestic Content Requirements, the ALMM framework for solar and wind, and indigenous procurement mandates must be strengthened. These measures give domestic manufacturers the scale and predictability they need to invest in capacity and innovation.
COP30’s launch of the Global Sustainable Public Procurement Declaration highlights how governments worldwide are using procurement as a lever to accelerate green manufacturing, a signal India should incorporate into the Mission.
The National Manufacturing Mission is a powerful commitment. But its success will depend on where we place our bets. Cleantech is not just aligned with India’s climate goals; it is central to its industrial renewal, job creation, and global positioning.
The story is reported by Jagjeet Sareen of The New Indian Express
