India’s ambitious plans to meet its climate targets under the Paris Agreement represent about $3.4 trillion worth of investment opportunities by 2030 in sectors including renewable energy, green buildings, transport infrastructure, electric vehicles, and climate-smart agriculture, says a new IFC report on Thursday.

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The report, which examined the climate-investment opportunities in  Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, found that these countries together represent 7.38 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. 

It also identified $172 billion of climate-smart investment opportunities in Bangladesh, $42 billion in Bhutan, $2 billion in the Maldives, $46 billion in Nepal, and $18 billion in Sri Lanka. 
 
“The only way that the South Asian countries can take advantage of these climate investment opportunities is with a strong and engaged private sector,” said IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou. “We also need to have a comprehensive approach to creating markets for climate business in key sectors. That means putting in place necessary policy frameworks, promoting competition, and building capacity and skills to open new markets.”
 
With a population of 1.3 billion, India is the world’s third-largest economy according to purchasing power parity, and with a young, large, and growing labour force, the country is a significant market for the private sector. 

Talking about the business opportunities, the report said, "India’s government is pursuing an agenda of “development without destruction”, aiming to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by up to 35 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. As India works to deliver universal electricity access and address rapid urbanization, this creates business opportunities."

It further said that "the country’s private sector is responding quickly to the opportunities created by the NDC and domestic policy goals and is taking every chance to make climate-smart investments marketable."
 
To utilize the full potential of the identified opportunities, the IFC report points to some necessary actions including implementing demand-side reforms, enhancing grid flexibility, minimizing curtailment rates, and clarifying the withdrawal of any incentives for renewable power, essential to ensuring continued expansion of the sector.