India’s Solar Energy Transition: a perspective of an accountability crisis

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Banerjee, Soham

Abstract: India’s announcement at the Glasgow Climate Conclave in 2021, regarding the nation’s short- and long-term climate actions portrayed an ambition of becoming a green leader in the years to come. The article discusses how accountability has broad horizons which in turn is linked with legitimacy, often neglected in research and when incorporated, in relevance to India’s solar energy transition will revolve around accountability crisis. An accountability–legitimacy framework is created in which the Indian solar energy paradigm is tested where the major findings are solar uptake discrepancies, pertinent to four typologies of legitimacy—technocratic, bureaucratic, financial, and discursive.

Keywords: Climate actions, COP21, Copenhagen Climate Conclave, DISCOMs, GHGs, Legitimacy, MNRE, NDCs, Paris Agreement, PAT, PPA, Process-tracing, Pro-renewable policies, Renewable energy, RPOs, REC, Solar energy, SWAL Matrix

DOI: 10.3233/RED-181203

Journal: Journal of Resources, Energy and Development, vol. 18, no. 1-2, pp. 41-54, 2021