Journal of Resources, Energy and Development

India’s passenger and freight transport demand in 2020 stood at 3.44 trillion passenger-km and 1.3 trillion tonne-km, requiring over 4700 petajoules of energy during the year. This is projected to almost quadruple by 2050 in the business-as-usual scenario. The growth will largely be driven by increasing economic growth, increasing income levels, and increasing urbanization. A five-pronged approach is being suggested to reduce the energy demand from the transport sector: enhancing energy efficiency, accelerating the use of clean fuels, shifting to cleaner modes of transport, optimal utilization of available capacity, and transport demand management. Several ongoing projects can be leveraged towards effecting a transition to cleaner modes. The Indian Railways is building dedicated freight corridors across the country. Similarly, it has plans to build 12 high-speed rail corridors. The dedicated freight corridors can be leveraged to bring in effect a shift from road freight to rail freight, especially by ensuring last mile road connectivity. The high-speed rail systems should be leveraged to shift from short haul flights to high-speed rail. Coming to urban transport systems, public transport and non-motorized modes of travel, like walking and cycling, are the cleaner modes of transport. A national level apex entity needs to be established to coordinate transport policies and plans across all modes. Each city of over one million people should set up a coordinating agency in the form of a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA). A significant reduction in emissions is certainly possible, but it needs concerted action and a coordinated approach.