Transition Chronicles captures the people’s side of India’s energy transition, spotlighting the financial, social, and institutional mechanisms needed to make it equitable and inclusive. It provides sectoral insights and explores advancements made at the national level, sub-national level, by civil society and industries as India transitions to net-zero by 2070.
𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞:
Why Supporting MSMEs Matter in Industrial Decarbonisation?
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), often described as the backbone of India’s economy, are critical in driving the country’s economic growth, employment, and industrial output. Across approximately 75 million enterprises, the sector provides livelihoods to nearly 320 million people and contributes to 31% of the country’s GDP. While only 20% of these enterprises are manufacturing MSMEs, they account for 35.4% of India’s manufacturing output.
A Deep Dive Into Industrial Perspectives
Topics such as energy security, decarbonisation, and adherence to environmental standards are increasingly coming to the forefront as these shifts become necessary for MSMEs to grow and sustain themselves. We sought perspectives from different MSME owners and managers across various industries to get insights on what the energy transition means for their unit, the impact of the recent West Asia crisis on their operations, and how they are planning to move forward.
The good practices shaping a cleaner Brick Industry
India’s brick industry, with ~1,50,000 units producing on average 4.5 to 5 million bricks annually per unit, is one of the largest yet most fragmented industrial sectors in the country. Most kilns rely on coal, mostly domestic coal and some on imported coal, especially kilns located in coastal regions.
Why the West Asia Conflict Matters to Morbi’s Ceramic Hub?
Gujarat’s Morbi ceramic cluster is India’s largest ceramic and tile manufacturing hub, accounting for nearly 70-75% of India’s ceramic tile production and hosting ~1000 ceramic manufacturing units. It includes 650-700 units operating spray dryers and over 400 operational roller kilns. The cluster exports extensively to Vietnam, Europe, Africa, and Latin America.
Transitions in an Electrical Component Manufacturing Unit: Automation, Skills, and Fuel dependencies
Manufacturing the components and cables requires a combination of electricity, LPG, and oxygen. Most key operations run on electricity, including cutting, machining, semiautomatic production systems, forging, finishing, quality control, and effluent treatment plants (ETP). The unit also faces regular power supply disruptions, particularly during monsoon. The company operates Diesel Generators for backup power generation.
Inside Perundurai’s Dye House: Process Optimisation, Resource Efficiency, and Energy Transition
The facility processes and dyes fabrics with integrated finishing and compacting operations. The dyeing process itself is highly energy-intensive. Temperature requirements for cotton dyeing ranges between 35 °C-95 °C, and can go up to 135 °C for polyester cotton. The facility uses indirect steam heating systems.
Cleaning Up Industrial Heat: A Decarbonisation Opportunity for India’s MSMEs
India’s industrial decarbonisation narrative is often dominated by future-oriented solutions such as green hydrogen, carbon capture, and advanced fuels. While these technologies will play an important role in hard-toabate sectors, a large and immediate opportunity already exists in cleaning up industrial heat across India’s MSMEs.
New-Age Financing for Greener MSMEs
MSME Sector accounted for 51% of the total priority lending sector (PSL) credit disbursement in 2024. Since 2019, the
overall PSL credit disbursement to MSMEs nearly doubled from ₹10.99 trillion to ₹21.73 trillion in 2024.