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The country's economic development and job creation in industry are central to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government agenda. At the same time, the ecological costs of modernization "come on hell" are omnipresent. New Delhi suffocates in smog, which is mainly blown up by the rapidly growing traffic, construction sites and industries. The values go beyond all known WHO standards and ensure permanent exceptional conditions, especially in late autumn. 14 of the 20 cities with the poorest air worldwide are in India. Around 1.2 million people die each year from the effects of air pollution. According to current estimates, this is the third leading cause of death in India.
This summer, the temperatures in the capital reached 47 degrees Celsius for days. The continuing drought has had catastrophic effects on entire areas in the south and has severely affected the already troubled agricultural sector. Water shortages and dehydrated reservoirs have made many places dependent on mobile water tanks for weeks. In its Working on a Warmer Planet (2019) report, the ILO predicts that 34 million jobs in India alone could be lost due to heat stress by 2030. This particularly affects people who work in the fields in rural India. These migrate millions of times to the cities and ensure rapid urbanization with dwindling living space, the spread of slums and growing social problems. There are indications that the cities in particular will continue to heat up: Due to the growing traffic, air conditioning and refrigerators, a lot of heat is separated and caught in the concrete jungle of the metropolises.
India plans to build 21 new nuclear power plants by 2030 - seven of which are currently under construction.
Currently, 67 percent of the 1.3 billion Indians still live in rural areas. Almost 50 percent of jobs are still in the agricultural sector, which, however, contributes relatively little to GDP. The government is aware of the explosiveness of the situation and is trying to help the poorest of the poor with numerous social programs. The social contract still seems to be working, which has also been shown by the recent election successes of Modi. But time is short. And the climate, in two senses, is getting harsher. The structural change in the Indian economy is progressing slowly, and the signs are currently even pointing to recession. Ecological goals are subordinated to the goal of full electrification of the country. 75 percent of electrical power is still produced in coal-fired power plants. This proportion is decreasing, but not quickly enough to sustainably reduce emissions.
There is some hope that renewable energies will grow strongly in India and that jobs will also be created in this industry. 720,000 people are currently employed in this sector. That is still a drop in the bucket, but it is a good start. From an Indian perspective, nuclear power is another way of meeting energy hunger while reducing emissions. This has a good reputation with the Indian government and is considered clean energy. India plans to build 21 new nuclear power plants by 2030 - seven of which are currently under construction.
India has managed to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty in recent decades. This will only continue to succeed if a cheap and stable energy supply can drive the economic modernization of the country. Environmental awareness is not yet firmly anchored in large parts of the population, who still consider their own economic advancement to be a top priority. But urban elites and middle classes in particular are increasingly concerned about environmental pollution. The country cannot ignore in the long run that development at the expense of the environment can lead to completely new problem areas and could thwart the entire development agenda.
