By Business India Editorial

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited G-7 countries to invest in India’s research, innovation and manufacturing sectors as he projected ‘a huge market for clean energy technologies’ is emerging in the country.

He was speaking at a session, ‘Investing in a better future: Climate, Energy, Health’, at G7 Summit in Germany on Monday.

Saying that ancient India had seen a time of immense prosperity, he added: “Then we have also tolerated the centuries of slavery, and now independent India is the fastest-growing big economy in the whole world.

“Seventeen per cent of the world’s population resides in India. But, our contribution of global carbon emissions is only 5 per cent. The main reason behind this is our lifestyle, which is based on the theory of co-existence with nature,” he said. 

“Our dedication to climate commitments is evident from our performance. We have achieved the target of 40 per cent energy-capacity from non-fossil sources nine years before time. The target of 10 per cent ethanol-blending in petrol has been achieved five months before time. India has the world’s first fully solar power operated airport. India’s huge railway system will become net-zero in this decade,” said the Prime Minister. 

“We hope that the rich countries of G-7 will support India’s efforts. Today, a huge market for clean energy technologies is emerging in India. G-7 countries can invest in research, innovation, and manufacturing in this field. The scale that India can provide for every new technology can make that technology affordable for the whole world. The core theories of the circular economy have been an integral part of Indian culture and lifestyle,” he added. 

“I called for a movement called LiFE -- Lifestyle for Environment -- in Glasgow last year. This year on World Environment Day, we launched the Global Initiative for LiFE campaign. The goal of this campaign is to encourage an eco-friendly lifestyle. We can call the followers of this movement Triple-P i.e. 'pro planet people', and we should all take the responsibility of increasing the number of Triple-P people in our own countries. This will be our greatest contribution to the coming generations,” Modi said.