India’s key climate targets include 1. reduction of 33%–35% in greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 2030 2. increase in non-fossil fuel energy capacity to 500 GW 3. achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 Select the answer using the code given below.

Correct — B, 2 and 3 only. Statements 2 and 3 are both current commitments announced by the Prime Minister at Glasgow in November 2021 as part of the Panchamrit — non-fossil-fuel energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030, and net-zero emissions by 2070. Statement 1 quotes the emissions-intensity target of India's first Nationally Determined Contribution of 2015, a reduction of 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level. That figure was superseded when India submitted its updated NDC in August 2022, which raised the pledge to a 45 per cent reduction in the emissions intensity of GDP by 2030. As of the 2025 examination the standing target is 45 per cent, so statement 1 no longer describes India's key climate target.

• (a)1 and 2 only — Keeps the superseded intensity figure and drops the net-zero-by-2070 pledge, which is the single most quoted Indian climate commitment of the last few years.
• (c)1, 2 and 3 — Correct on the last two but retains the 33 to 35 per cent figure. India's updated contribution of August 2022 replaced it with 45 per cent, and it is the updated figure that stands today.
• (d)1 only — Keeps only the superseded figure and discards both current targets, so it is the weakest of the four.

India's climate commitments come in two layers. The first Nationally Determined Contribution, submitted in 2015 ahead of Paris, promised to cut the emissions intensity of GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level, to reach 40 per cent of cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030, and to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through forest and tree cover. At Glasgow in 2021 came the Panchamrit — 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, half of energy requirements from renewables by 2030, a reduction of one billion tonnes in projected emissions by 2030, a 45 per cent cut in carbon intensity by 2030, and net zero by 2070. The updated NDC of August 2022 formalised the 45 per cent intensity target and a non-fossil share of about 50 per cent.

The item turns on whether the 33 to 35 per cent figure is still India's target, and it is not — it was replaced three years before this examination. That is a familiar shape of question: a superseded number quoted alongside two current ones. It is worth being honest that a paper-setter working from an older compilation might have intended all three statements to be true, since the 2015 figure was repeated in official documents for years; but the checkable position on exam day is that India's emissions-intensity pledge is 45 per cent, not 33 to 35. This card therefore marks a different letter from the answer we hold on file.

• India's first NDC (2015) pledged a 33 to 35 per cent cut in emissions intensity of GDP by 2030 from the 2005 level.
• The updated NDC submitted in August 2022 raised that pledge to 45 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level.
• The Panchamrit announced at Glasgow in November 2021 includes 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030.
• It also includes meeting half of energy requirements from renewables by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2070.
• The updated NDC also raised the non-fossil share of cumulative electric power installed capacity to about 50 per cent by 2030.

• Quoting a superseded target because it appeared in official material for many years.
• Confusing emissions intensity of GDP with absolute emissions; India's pledge is on intensity, which can fall while total emissions rise.
• Mixing up the 40 per cent non-fossil capacity of the 2015 pledge with the roughly 50 per cent of the updated one.

A current-affairs item that quotes a superseded figure alongside two live ones, which is the standard way of testing whether a candidate has updated a memorised list.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  India's updated Nationally Determined Contribution submitted in 2022 pledges to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 2030, from the 2005 level, by

  • (a)20 per cent
  • (b)33 to 35 per cent
  • (c)45 per cent
  • (d)60 per cent

  Answer(c) 45 per cent — the updated contribution raised the earlier 33 to 35 per cent pledge.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Panchamrit announced at Glasgow in 2021, India set the target year for reaching net-zero emissions as

  • (a)2050
  • (b)2060
  • (c)2070
  • (d)2047

  Answer(c) 2070 — a later date than the 2050 adopted by many developed economies, reflecting India's development stage.