If you take into account the historical record, India is responsible only for 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. The US is responsible for 20% more than any other country. Rahul Tongia is a senior fellow at The Center for Social and Economic Progress in New Delhi. He says that India would be considered a true hero if one wanted to allocate fair carbon budgets.
However, Modis' announcement was pleasant to some researchers, according to Ulka Kelkar (economist and climate director at the World Resources Institute India). She says that the goals are an improvement on previous targets and that few people expected India to make a net zero pledge at this year's conference.
According to Navroz Dubash (a professor at the Center for Policy Research, New Delhi), the target was necessary for diplomatic reasons. He sees it as a checkbox, though, as all 10 top emitters, except Iran, have already made net-zero pledges.
He argues that the Modi interim goals are more important than any other. Modi stated that India will have 500 gigawatts (including nuclear) of electricity generation by 2030 and 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources. Modi also committed to reducing India's total emissions by 1 Billion metric tons by 2030 and increasing its carbon intensity (which measures the amount of electricity produced compared with emissions) by 45% by 2030.
Later, the Indian government clarified that the target of 50% is for electricity capacity. It will not include energy used in sectors such as transportation that are difficult to decarbonize. It is also about the ability to produce, and not the generation. Dubash says that there will be less limitations on coal than initially believed.
