A green alliance for the climate

Net zero by 2070: this is the ambitious goal that fast-growing India, the world’s most populous country, has set itself. India is currently the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases - and one of the regions most affected by climate change. Germany is supporting India on its path to a green future, among other things by engaging in technology cooperation and sustainable development projects.

Focal areas for Indo-German cooperation:

• cooperation in the area of renewable energies: funding for the hydrogen economy, expansion of solar and wind power and modernisation of the power grid, increased energy efficiency of small companies
• projects for climate-resilient and sustainable urban development and climate-friendly mobility in India’s major cities
• expansion of organic farming and sustainable forest management
• exchange between German and Indian research institutions 
• total funding volume of the Indo-German Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP): 10 billion euros by 2030, most of which Germany has been making available since 2022 in the form of soft loans via the KfW Development Bank, which India will pay back

Solar energy in India: green and efficient

A glance at renewable energies in particular makes it quite clear that it is worth investing in climate and environmental protection in India. “With up to 3,000 hours of sunshine a year and falling costs of solar modules, solar energy is an extremely efficient, cost-effective and green source of energy in India,” says Jördis Flöther, project manager for energy projects in South Asia at KfW. “Per euro invested, three times more climate-harmful greenhouse gases can be avoided in India than in Germany.” 

Within the framework of the Indo-German Green and Sustainable Development Partnership, Germany is providing KfW soft loans of around one billion euros to support the construction of large solar farms, for the most part in sparsely populated desert-like areas in India. “The solar partnership will reduce emissions by around six million tonnes of_carbon per year,” says Flöther. Several hundred megawatts of electricity will be fed into the power grid - helping to cover India’s growing energy demand in a sustainable manner. “When we implement these projects, we attach great importance to applying international standards to ensure for example that little water is used to clean the solar panels and that local residents are involved in the projects,” Flöther explains. Furthermore, Germany funds solutions that are tailored to local needs, such as autonomous systems for villages that are not reliably supplied by the public power grid, or solar-powered pumps for the irrigation of agricultural land.

Modern waste management - reducing greenhouse gas emissions

A modern waste management system can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “In India we are witnessing very rapid and often unregulated urbanisation. This puts excessive strain on infrastructure and hampers public services such as water supply or sewage and waste disposal,” says Niels Kemper, project manager for urban development in South Asia. “Rubbish is dumped on illegal tips, where it breaks down in an uncontrolled fashion and releases methane - one of the most harmful gases to the climate.” He goes on to explain that seepage from these illegal rubbish tips pollutes the groundwater with environmentally harmful organic substances and heavy metals - in a region that regularly suffers heatwaves, drought and water shortages. This also results in valuable resources being lost, according to Kemper. 

To improve waste management, Germany used a KfW loan of 100 million euros - under the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership - to set up a programme in 2023 whose aim is to increase climate resilience and establish integrated waste management with a circular economy focus in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. “The main objective is to build a waste sorting and recycling facility that will be installed on the site of the illegal tip,” explains Kemper. Semi-automatic sorting of mixed waste allows reusable materials such as plastic to be extracted and recycled. Organic waste will be composted, while any residual rubbish that cannot be recycled will be used as alternative fuel for industry. This will reduce climate-harmful emissions by comparison with the uncontrolled decomposition processes. It may also be possible in future to set up a biogas facility at the site in order to cut emissions even further. 

Another advantage of the initiative is that it will boost climate resilience in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. “The city’s very existence is threatened by rising sea levels and excessive rainfall,” Kemper says. Steps to improve flood management and to protect against heavy rainfall events are being prepared within the programme. 

New metro line as an alternative to the car 

Ahmedabad, a city of nine million inhabitants, is also profiting from the green partnership between Germany and India. Since September 2024, a new metro line has linked this business hub with the regional capital Gandhinagar, carrying around 120,000 passengers per day - this number is expected to rise over the next 30 years to 330,000 per day. The project was partly funded by a KfW loan under the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership; given the extreme smog and congestion caused by commuter traffic, it provides a climate-friendly and safe alternative to using a car. What is more, commuters from poorer parts of the city, many of whom cannot afford a car, benefit from an affordable mobility option. 

In Bengaluru, India’s third-largest city, a new rapid-transport rail system covering around 150 kilometres that is currently being built with a KfW loan will be used by around 1.4 million passengers per day. The goal is to provide an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient integrated regional transport system that will allow people to quickly switch between the metro, buses, rickshaws and intercity trains. The 58 stations are also to be certified as “green buildings”: effective insulation, fine particle filters, waste separation systems, sustainable building materials and photovoltaic panels on the station roofs will ease the burden on the environment, climate and health of the local population.