Thematic Track: Is a Decarbonised Transport Sector Possible in India by 2050 ?

The session focused on decarbonizing the transport sector, including passenger and freight. In the welcome address, Mr Sharif Qamar emphasized two major areas surrounding the question of whether a decarbonized transport sector is possible in India by 2050. First, no-regret infrastructure approach and second, incentivizing zero-carbon transport. The share of railways has been declining over the years, with an increasing share of road transport. Along with a net-zero emission approach of railways, he emphasized that railways must increase their share in total transport. He further discussed four strategies to decarbonize the transport sector—modal shift, alternative fuel, fuel efficiency, and demand reduction.
Mr Sudhendhu J Sinha spoke about the government initiatives being aimed at localization of jobs/ manufacturing in the country, adhering to the grand vision of employment. Last-mile connectivity being essential for passenger and freight sector is a high-priority goal of the government. However, in developed urban areas, the challenge of inclusion of last-mile connectivity remains.
Prof Geetam Tiwari highlighted that there is a huge gap between aiming, planning, and on-ground implementation in transport projects. Lack of political and administrative stability also creates issues and difficulties during implementation stages, which is why a lot of hand-holding is required from policymaking to on-ground implementation of the projects. Holistic planning approaches shall be adopted for last-mile connectivity where all the infrastructure and transport modes are planned together for better results. She highlighted the importance of life cycle emissions and incorporating the emissions during construction and maintenance phases, while talking about transport decarbonization.

Thematic Track: Is a Decarbonised Transport Sector Possible in India by 2050 ?
Welcome remarks and context setting presentation: Mr Sharif Qamar, Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Mobility, TERI
Moderator: Mr Sudhendhu J Sinha, Advisor, Transport, NITI Aayog
Panellists:
Prof Geetam Tiwari, MoUD Chair Professor, Department of Civil Engineering and TRIPP, Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi
Mr Clay Stranger, Managing Director, RMI
Mr Vivek Chandran, Associate Director, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation
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