Panchamrit

Topic: Climate Change: Causes, Evidence and the Global Response · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Panchamrit ("five nectars") is the name for India's five climate pledges, announced at COP26 in Glasgow (November 2021). Four of the pledges are for 2030: 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity, 50% of energy needs from renewables, 1 billion tonnes less emissions than projected, and a 45% cut in emission intensity from the 2005 level. The fifth is net zero by 2070.

Panchamrit matters because it was India's first promise to reach net zero by a fixed date. It also set the 2030 goals that India's later NDCs and its carbon market now work towards.

Explanation

The five pledges

#	Pledge	Target year
1	500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity	2030
2	50% of energy needs met from renewables	2030
3	1 billion tonnes less emissions than projected	2030
4	Emission intensity of GDP 45% below the 2005 level	2030
5	Net zero	2070

• Non-fossil capacity is power from sources that do not burn coal, oil or gas, such as solar, wind and hydro.
• Emission intensity is the greenhouse gas released for each unit of GDP.
• It can fall even while total emissions keep rising.

• The economy just has to grow faster than its emissions.

• Net zero means the gases a country releases are fully balanced by the gases it removes, for example through forests or carbon capture.

Why India chose these kinds of targets

• India's emissions per person are low.
• They are about one-third of the world average [1].

• Millions of people still need more energy, so India wants room to grow.

• Growth has started to pull away from emissions (decoupling).

• From 2005 to 2019 the economy grew by nearly 7% a year, while emissions grew by nearly 4% a year [1].

• An intensity target builds on this trend without putting a cap on total emissions.

• Equity comes first.

• India says the carbon budget (the total CO₂ the world can still release and stay within a temperature limit) must be shared according to each country's cumulative (total past) emissions [1].
• It relies on CBDR-RC (Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities). All countries must act, but rich countries that polluted first must do more and must give finance and technology [1].

From pledge to formal promise

• Updated NDC (August 2022), for 2021–2030. An NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) is the climate plan each country submits to the UNFCCC. This NDC wrote parts of Panchamrit into India's formal promise:
• a 45% cut in emission intensity from 2005 levels by 2030;
• about 50% of installed power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030;

• an extra carbon sink of 2.5–3.0 billion tonnes CO₂e through forest and tree cover.

• LT-LEDS (Long-Term Low-Emission Development Strategy) is India's plan for reaching the 2070 net-zero goal. India submitted it at COP27, Sharm el-Sheikh (2022).

• NDC 2031–2035 (communicated in April 2026) takes the targets further [1][2]:
• a 47% cut in emission intensity by 2035;
• about 60% non-fossil power capacity by 2035, which depends on technology transfer and low-cost international finance;
• a carbon sink of 3.5–4.0 billion tonnes CO₂e by 2035, measured against 2005.

Progress so far

Indicator	Status
Fall in emission intensity	36% between 2005 and 2020 [1]
Non-fossil share of installed capacity	Crossed 50% in mid-2025 [3]. It was 52.57% on 28 February 2026, five years ahead of the 2030 goal [1].
Extra carbon sink	2.29 billion tonnes CO₂e created between 2005 and 2021 [1]

Where it occurs

• Where it was announced: COP26, Glasgow (United Kingdom), November 2021.
• Where it applies: across the whole of India. It is carried out through national policies and state plans:
• National Solar Mission (under NAPCC, launched 2010). Solar power is at the centre of the 500 GW goal. Its earlier target of 100 GW by 2022 was reached later.
• State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCCs). Almost all states have made one, and they are now being revised to include updated climate risks [1].
• Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). It was notified in June 2023 under the Energy Conservation Act 2001 and is run by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). It helps cut emission intensity. It covers 490 obligated entities in 8 sectors [4]. Obligated entities are energy-heavy firms that must meet emission-intensity targets.

• Green India Mission. It adds forest and tree cover on 5 million ha and improves forest quality on another 5 million ha. This supports the carbon sink.

• Coal regions affected: the move away from coal hits Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh hardest. These states need a just transition, meaning workers and communities who depend on coal are helped to move to new work.

• Linked global tools: the International Solar Alliance (ISA), with its headquarters in Gurugram, Haryana, and Mission LiFE, which was also first announced at COP26.

Don't confuse with

• NDC: Panchamrit was a set of pledges India announced at COP26. An NDC is the formal climate plan submitted to the UNFCCC and updated every five years. The 2022 NDC turned only parts of Panchamrit into formal targets.
• LT-LEDS: Panchamrit set the net-zero year of 2070 at COP26 (2021). LT-LEDS, the plan for reaching it, was submitted at COP27 (2022).
• Net zero vs emission intensity: An intensity cut (45% by 2030) allows total emissions to keep rising. Net zero (2070) means releases are fully balanced by removals.
• Installed capacity vs generation: The 500 GW and 50% targets refer to capacity. Coal still produces most of the electricity actually generated, because solar works only by day.

Prelims Hooks

• Panchamrit was announced at COP26, Glasgow (2021). India's net-zero year is 2070, not 2050.
• Emission-intensity targets against 2005: 33–35% by 2030 (2015 NDC), 45% by 2030 (Panchamrit and the 2022 NDC), 47% by 2035 (2031–35 NDC).
• Non-fossil share of installed capacity crossed 50% in mid-2025 [3]. It was 52.57% on 28 February 2026 [1].
• LT-LEDS (the 2070 net-zero roadmap) was submitted at COP27, Sharm el-Sheikh, not COP26.
• Trap: Mission LiFE was first announced at COP26, but it is not one of the five Panchamrit pledges.
• Trap: the "1 billion tonnes" pledge is a cut from projected emissions by 2030, not a cut from today's emissions.

Mains Points

• Ambition balanced with equity. Panchamrit commits India to net zero while keeping "development space" through intensity-based targets. This fits CBDR-RC and India's claim to a fair share of the carbon budget, given that its emissions per person are about one-third of the world average [1]. Early achievements, such as the 50% non-fossil capacity share in 2025, show the approach is working.
• Limits and gaps (GS-III). Coal still dominates electricity generation, and the capacity share is higher than the share of power actually produced. India needs storage, grid upgrades and a just transition for Jharkhand, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Intensity targets also let total emissions keep rising until 2070.
• Dependence on global support. The 2035 targets depend on technology transfer and low-cost finance. The 2035 NDC calls the shortfall in promised finance from rich countries a "mitigation ambition gap" [1]. India pairs its own pledges with South–South leadership through the ISA and CDRI [1].

Related concepts

• National Action Plan on Climate Change
• National Solar Mission
• National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem
• Green India Mission
• Carbon Credit Trading Scheme

Read more

• India's response: NAPCC, NDC, Panchamrit, ISA, LiFE and the carbon market