India’s emissions improved in 2025, global climate consultants report

India's emissions record got better in 2025. That is the finding from a group of global climate consultants, first reported by Business Standard. The improvement comes at a time when the country is under pressure to show it can grow without pumping out more greenhouse gases.

The consultants looked at India's emission intensity, the amount of carbon dioxide released per unit of GDP. That number fell in 2025. It means the economy kept expanding, but the pollution cost of each rupee of output shrank. The report did not give a single headline figure for total emissions, but the trend line points down.

India has set a target to cut emission intensity by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030. It also wants to get half its electricity from non-fossil sources by the same year. The 2025 numbers suggest the country is on track for the intensity goal, though coal still dominates the power mix.

Renewables drive the shift

Solar and wind capacity grew fast in 2025. India added more than 20 gigawatts of solar alone, according to earlier government data. That helped push down the share of coal-fired power in the grid. The consultants linked the emissions improvement directly to this renewable build-out.

Electric vehicle sales also rose. Two-wheelers and three-wheelers led the charge. The government's Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles scheme, or FAME, continued to support buyers. More buses and taxis in cities went electric, cutting transport emissions.

But the picture is not all clean. Industrial output in steel and cement stayed high, and those sectors still burn coal and gas. The consultants warned that without deeper cuts in heavy industry, India's long-term targets could slip.

Policy and the Paris pledge

India submitted its updated climate plan to the United Nations in 2022. It promised to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. The 2025 improvement is a step in that direction, but the consultants said the pace needs to pick up. They pointed to state-level policies that are slow to implement central rules on renewables and efficiency.

The report also noted that India's per-capita emissions remain low, about a third of the global average. That gives the country room to argue for more carbon space in international talks. Still, the absolute volume of India's emissions is large and rising in some months, driven by summer cooling demand and farm diesel use.

Business Standard quoted the consultants as saying the 2025 data shows "tangible progress" but that "the hard part starts now." The next big test will come when the government releases its own official inventory later this year.

What the numbers mean

For climate watchers, the 2025 record is a rare piece of good news. India is the world's third-largest emitter after China and the United States. Any drop in its emission intensity helps global curves bend down. But the consultants stressed that intensity is only half the story. Total emissions must peak and then fall for the world to meet the Paris Agreement goals.

India's power minister said in a recent speech that the country would not sacrifice growth for climate action. The 2025 data suggests that, for now, growth and lower emissions are happening together. The question is whether that can last through the next decade.