Policy Brief

Fuel Efficiency Improvement and Emission Standards in Road Transport

18 Aug 2023
| Piyush Saxena
| Ruchika Mattoo

India’s rapid urbanization and economic growth has accelerated both passenger and freight transport demands, which have led to the need for prioritizing adoption of low carbon technologies, also strengthening the country’s energy security.

Accelerating Biodiesel Blending in India

18 Aug 2023
| Faiz Jamal

India’s dependency on imported fossil fuels is mounting incessantly. The petroleum products consumption in the country has increased about 38.2% from the past decade, resulting in a substantial expenditure on oil imports.

An Assessment of Avoided CO2 Emissions during Construction, Maintenance and Operation of National Highways

22 Feb 2023

India has the 2nd largest road network in the world. Amongst the different types of roads, the National Highways extending to 1,44,634 km has contributed significantly to India’s rapid economic development. The rapid pace of construction of highways is enabling integration of the local economies of far flung towns and villages into the national economy.

Battery Electric Technology In The Heavy-Duty Vehicle Segment

08 Jul 2022
| Mr Sharif Qamar
| Faiz Jamal

70% of total tonne-km of India's freight transport takes place via roads (TERI, 2015) and is dominated by medium and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs) with a share of around 60% and the remaining by light-duty vehicles (LDVs). Reduced emission levels from 'hard to abate' sectors such as medium/heavy-duty long-distance transport, aviation, and shipping will continue to be critical in the future. Sustained efforts in this direction are crucial to achieving emission intensity reduction targets globally and in India, as outlined in the country's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

Transitioning to a Low Carbon Technology for the Road Transport in India

14 Mar 2022
| Mr Abhishek Kaushik
| Mr Shanmuganathan K
| Ms Sachi Vohra
| Mr G Renjith

India is the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions. At present, India accounts for a significant multimodal road transport sector contributing approximately 10 per cent of country’s total CO2 emissions, making it the second most carbon emitting sector in the country. Driven by rising population, income, and urbanization, under a business-as-usual scenario, India’s energy demand from transport is projected to increase six fold in 2050 from current levels. Therefore, decarbonizing the transport sector in India can help to substantially reduce these environmental impacts.

Moving towards Aggregation: Freight Forwarder Scheme of Railways

15 Feb 2022
| Ms Palak Passi

One of the key strategies in the Union Budget 2022 for increasing rail freight market share, aims at facilitating the integration of smaller goods through seamless solutions and multimodal logistics facilities at cargo terminals. Despite an increase in railways' market share to 45% by 2030, a key transport decarbonization strategy for India, it continues to exhibit a gradual decline due to a variety of reasons.

Developing Rail Freight Terminals: Energizing Private Partnerships

15 Feb 2022
| Ms Viral Joshi

Railways has often been termed as the "backbone of the economy", facilitating passenger and freight transportation to the length and breadth of the country. In recent years, railways has experienced a constant decline in the freight business, resulting in a growing concern for railway finances and National Decarbonisation Targets.

Assessing the environmental benefits from switching auto-rickshaws in Chennai to electric

18 Jun 2020
| Mr Aravind Harikumar
| Ms Palak Thakur
| Ms Sugandha Pal

In Chennai, auto rickshaws constitute 40% of all transport vehicles and 58% of passenger transport vehicles. The share of auto-rickshaws has increased from practically zero in 1970 to over 6% in 2008.

Impact of COVID-19 on urban mobility in India: Evidence from a perception study

17 May 2020
| Ms Palak Thakur
| Mr Promit Mookherjee
| Ms Aakansha Jain
| Mr Aravind Harikumar

The urban transportation landscape is likely to undergo significant changes due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Increased risks associated with crowded places combined with social distancing measures in public and shared transport are likely to affect modal choices of commuters. Urban freight needs may also alter with the change in the use of e-services. To assess the likely nature of such a shift, an online survey was conducted, which was designed to elicit the perceptions of respondents related to work trips, online grocery shopping, and food delivery pre and post COVID-19.

Emerging role of bike (motorcycle) taxis in urban mobility

02 Mar 2020
| Ms Palak Thakur
| Ms Aakansha Jain
| Mr Aravind Harikumar

Ride sharing and hailing services have given new dimension to urban mobility. Bike taxis serve as an intermediate public transport mode offering first and last mile services in India.