India’s goal to reach net zero by 2070 requires an estimated $22.7 trillion in investment. Experts argue that improved transparency in corporate transition plans is essential to mobilise this capital effectively and avoid risks of misallocated funds and stranded assets.
India’s path to net zero by 2070 will demand an estimated $22.7tn in cumulative investment, according to NITI Aayog, placing corporate disclosures at the centre of a vast capital mobilisation effort. But as the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis argues, investors cannot judge whether those funds are likely to be used well unless companies provide clearer, more consistent transition plans that show how targets will be met, who will deliver them and what resources will support the shift.
The case for tighter reporting is not just about transparency. IEEFA says India’s current Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting framework already asks large listed companies for much of the relevant information, yet it does not define what a complete transition plan should look like. That leaves room for vague ambition, internal contradictions and gaps in accountability, creating the risk that companies can announce climate goals without showing the actions, funding or governance needed to achieve them. For investors, the consequences are serious: capital could be directed towards projects that do not scale, assets could become stranded and assumptions about policy or carbon costs could turn out to be wrong.
NITI Aayog’s estimate, reported earlier this year by Business Standard and other Indian outlets, underlines the scale of the financing task. The study said India will need about $22.7tn to reach net zero, with some reports translating that into roughly $500bn a year. Other coverage of the report pointed to a transition that will require electrification, cleaner power, higher efficiency and a more skilled workforce, while also noting that coal use may continue rising for years as the country tries to balance growth with decarbonisation. That tension makes credible corporate transition plans more important, because public policy alone will not determine how capital is allocated.
IEEFA says the solution does not require a new disclosure regime. Instead, regulators could tighten guidance within existing BRSR fields by focusing on six priority metrics: the emissions target itself, near-term reduction goals, the specific levers a company will use, the metrics attached to those levers, the capital expenditure behind them and the governance structure that assigns responsibility. The group says these are already familiar to global frameworks such as the International Sustainability Standards Board’s IFRS S2 standard and to domestic initiatives from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Reserve Bank of India and the International Financial Services Centres Authority. The broader aim, IEEFA says, is to make BRSR a more useful bridge between Indian companies and the investors expected to finance the country’s energy transition.
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