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The role of regulatory innovation in reversing India’s environmental degradation

In the Yale Environmental Performance Index, India ranked last out of 180 countries. Anant Sudarshan examines the broader economic and developmental costs of environmental degradation. Based on the li...

  • Perspectives

Economic dynamics of natural disasters: Evidence from the Kerala floods

To understand the economic impact of natural disasters, this article uses the 2018 floods in Kerala – a time when it received higher rainfall than the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu...

  • Articles

Reducing information barriers to solar adoption: Experimental evidence from India

A large number of people lack access to reliable and high-quality electricity supply. Off-grid solar technologies can fill this gap, but adoption remains low. This article looks at the role of informa...

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Driving Delhi: The impact of driving restrictions on driver behaviour

In an attempt to address Delhi’s grave pollution problem, the state government experimented with a driving restrictions policy for a fortnight in January. Based on a phone survey of a sample of 614...

  • Perspectives

The Impact of Climate and Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from a Garment Factory in India

This project aims to answer the following research questions: i) What is the impact of air pollution on worker productivity and other labour outcomes (attendance, tardiness, and attrition)? ii) What i...

  • IGC Research on India

The Paris Agreement: No more chances to fail

The Paris Agreement is being viewed with cautious optimism by most observers. In this article, Milind Kandlikar, Professor at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University o...

  • Perspectives

Coal and the climate change debate

In the run-up to the Paris Climate Summit, there has been a growing call among advanced nations to phase out fossil fuels. In this article, Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Government of I...

  • Perspectives

India's energy efficiency

India is the fourth largest energy consumer in the world but is not well endowed with energy resources, making efficiency in energy use very important. This column analyses the spatial dynamics of el...

  • Articles

How development affects climate sensitivity of electricity demand in India

The annual average temperature in India in 2009 was about 0.91°C above the average temperature recorded during the 1961-1990 period. This column analyses the impact of daily weather as well as long-...

  • Articles

Incentivising states to conserve forests

Central tax revenues will now be shared among states not just on the basis of population, area, and income, but also forest cover. In this article, Jonah Busch, an environmental economist at the Cent...

  • Perspectives

Making the best out of waste

Given rapid urbanisation and the increasing amounts of solid waste generated in India cities, there is a pressing need for effective waste management processes. In this article, Sourabh Bhattacharjee...

  • Notes from the Field

Can solar micro-grids deliver basic electricity access in Indian villages?

About one-third of India´s population remains without access to basic electricity services. This column discusses preliminary lessons from an experiment in rural Uttar Pradesh that seeks to set up s...

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Harnessing India's wind power potential

While India’s wind power sector has progressed significantly in the past decade, only about 22% of its potential has been harnessed so far. In this article, Deepthi Swamy - who was part of a team t...

  • Notes from the Field

Solar power for street vendors? Lessons from an experiment in Bihar

Rapid urbanisation in developing countries is aggravating the issue of insufficient access to energy for basic needs such as lighting. This column discusses lessons from an experiment in Bihar wherei...

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Creating the climate for India's low-carbon growth story

The ‘Expert Group on Low Carbon Strategies for Inclusive Growth’ recently laid out a detailed roadmap for India to take on climate change mitigation proactively. In this note, Varad Pande – a m...

  • Notes from the Field

Recent Contributors

Abhinav

Abhinav Narayanan

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Gogol

Gogol Mitra Thakur

Centre for Development Studies

Anant

Anant Sudarshan

Energy Policy Institute at Chicago

Eyal

Eyal Frank

Harris School of Public Policy

Navroz K.

Navroz K. Dubash

Centre for Policy Research

Anirudh

Anirudh Sridhar

Centre for Policy Research

Ashwini K.

Ashwini K. Swain

Centre for Policy Research

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Most Popular Environment Posts

Happy Seeder: A solution to agricultural fires in north India

It is believed that much of the pollution in Delhi in November every year originates in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana where farmers burn their fields to dispose of crop residue. This ...

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Has environmental regulation been successful in India?

India has an impressive number of environmental regulations – but have they been a success? This column presents evidence that while initiatives such as catalytic converters for cars have reduced ai...

  • Articles

Learnings from emissions trade in India

India, and many developing nations in other parts of the world take solace in the U-shaped Kuznets curve: a belief in this inverse relationship between income and environmental quality results in not ...

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