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Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said that India requires high economic growth to invest in energy transition. He stated the country needs the time to move away from coal towards other fossil fuels, and later on towards other renewable energy.  

Further, he stated India is well ahead of other G20 countries in meeting the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) target. NDCs are national action plans adopted by various countries to limit the earth's average temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius and preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial (19850-1900) levels. He added ‘You will have to use coal for quite some time.’

Besides, he noted that the fear of carbon emissions is driving the West, particularly, Europe towards the impossible trinity of net zero, fiscal prudence and economic competitiveness. Earlier this month, India and China refrained from signing the pledge at the COP28 climate summit to triple the world's renewable energy capacity by 2030, even though New Delhi is already committed to it as part of its G20 presidency.