TERI & WTC Mumbai Convene High-Level Roundtable on India’s Low-Carbon Transition

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), in partnership with the World Trade Centre (WTC) Mumbai, organized a High-Level Transformative Leadership Roundtable today, bringing together senior business leaders, investors, and sustainability practitioners to discuss accelerating India’s low-carbon transition while supporting economic growth.

The closed-door roundtable, held at Centrum Hall, WTC Mumbai, Cuffe Parade, focused on the urgent need for transformative leadership and collective action to shape India’s climate and development trajectory, especially as much of the country’s future infrastructure is still under development.

Participants highlighted India’s unique opportunity to leapfrog to cleaner energy, mobility, and industrial systems through rapid adoption of renewable energy, electrification, and digital technologies. While noting India’s progress in expanding renewable energy capacity, discussions emphasized the importance of scaled-up investments, access to advanced technologies, robust standards and certifications, and deeper collaboration between domestic and global stakeholders.

The event opened with remarks from Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director General of TERI, and Dr Vijay Kalantri, Chairman of WTC Mumbai and President of the All India Association of Industries. Dr Dhawan stressed, “Ambition today must move beyond scale alone. As India’s clean energy economy expands, so does its demand for materials, minerals, and infrastructure. Resource efficiency and circular economy approaches are no longer optional—they are strategic necessities for energy security, cost stability, and long-term resilience.”

Dr Kalantri added, “As India moves towards its net-zero target by 2070, our responsibility is to pursue a transformative vision of development where sustainability and economic growth reinforce each other. This transition will be driven by advanced technologies, innovation, and a shared ideology that views climate action not as a constraint, but as an opportunity for long-term, inclusive, and sustainable development.”

The roundtable featured moderated discussions with CXOs and leaders from industry, finance, impact investing, and sustainability-focused organizations. Mr Arupendra Nath Mullick, Associate Director at TERI, said, “We invite not just participation, but the collective intellect of our partners to co-create a platform that harnesses the power of networks, expertise, and implementation, while grounding solutions in real-world perspectives.”

Key themes explored during the discussions included:

• -Interdependencies and low-carbon transition pathways across industry sectors
• -Accelerating renewable energy deployment
• -Establishing credible certifications, standards, and verification frameworks
• -Mobilizing finance through banks, impact investors, and alternative asset managers
• -Harnessing collective action among businesses, governments, researchers, and civil society

Mr Krishna Kumar Gangadharan, Partner, India Japan Fund, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), highlighted that NIIF has invested US$6 billion in commercial infrastructure projects in India, emphasizing the need for cohesive supply chains to scale innovative climate-focused business models. Ms Raakhee Kulkarni, Managing Director and Head of ESG at South Asia Advisors, GEF Capital Partners, noted that GEF Capital Partners’ 21 climate-focused investments in India—from food and water security to green corridors—reflect the growing business value of sustainability.