India may need USD 10 trillion investment to achieve net-zero emission by 2070: Study

India will need an investment of over USD 10 trillion to achieve its net-zero emission target by 2070, a report said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced India's zero-emission target to be achieved by 2070 at COP-26 (26th United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2021).

''India may require an investment of over USD 10 trillion to achieve its net-zero target by 2070,'' a joint white paper issued by GE-EY said on Thursday.

It said that India would continue to rely on coal power, at least in the near future. Thus, the country needs to focus on and incentivize cleaner coal technology to further reduce carbon emissions.

The report further recommended policy initiatives ''essential for a future driven by sustainable industries.'' To achieve the target, India must overcome import dependence in the energy sector through measures that incentivize domestic production like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, it suggested.

Leveraging carbon capture technologies for the usage of coal-based energy, which is the largest source of primary energy and is domestically sourced, besides encouraging the promotion of green hydrogen through demand-side incentives and policies to bring down costs is also essential to meet the goal.

''Most importantly, create carbon markets and incentives for the adoption of clean energy technologies. India also needs to undertake several policy measures to help deepen the green bond market to facilitate financing,'' it said.