PRACTICE OF GREEN FINANCE IN INDIA: PRESENT POSITIONS AND TASKS AHEAD

Globally, the paradigm of economic growth and development is undergoing a fundamental shift, and the reason is to make economic activities more environmentally sustainable. In order to go ahead with attaining the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a major push required for green projects and boosted funding for environment-friendly investments through instruments like green bonds, green banks, carbon credits and community based green funds etc., collectively called ‘Green Finance’. To find out the present status of green financing in India, it is observe that India has been actively advancing its green finance initiatives to meet ambitious climate goals, including achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. The tracked green finance for mitigation sectors in 2021-22, as per conservative estimates, increased to ₹ 3,712 billion per annum from ₹3,094 billion in 2019-20. This is a significant step up from 2019-20, especially in the context of the economic disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.