US President Barack Obama is banking on clean energy to create over 800,000 jobs by 2012. India’s emerging green jobs sector holds out the promise of 10,500,000 jobs by the end of the decade as investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies soar.
India’s Clean Revolution, a report released last month by The Climate Group, a global environmental think tank, indicates that enormous potential exists for generating new income and jobs by developing domestic renewable energy resources and clean technologies in India. The right skills need to be developed, however, to help make the transition to a greener economy.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) defines green jobs, also known as green collar jobs, as “work in agricultural, manufacturing, R&D, administrative and service activities that contribute substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality.” India’s green sector includes jobs that range from being an environmental architect designing sustainable homes, organic farmers and environmental engineers. Take the case of India’s solar energy technology ventures, wind turbine manufacturers, jatropha farms or eco-tourism ventures. There is a glaring need for a huge base of trained talent in these areas. Says Sunil Jain, CEO, Green Infra, an independent renewable energy power producer: “The forecast of 10.5 million jobs by the end of the decade is a figure on the high side but one we can definitely achieve.”
Explains Damian Ryan, senior policy manager (international), The Climate Group: “Education and training of both the current and future workforce is obviously critical to seizing the opportunities of the Clean Revolution. The good news is that India’s government has been increasing its investment in education and research over recent years, with a four-fold increase in funding in the 2007-2012 five year plan. This will, no doubt, help to boost the number of engineers and scientists that India is increasingly well-known for producing.”
According to the report, the wind sector, predicted to be worth Rs 60,000 crore in 2020, could create between 150,000 to 250,000 jobs. Similarly, the solar industry, predicted to be worth Rs 32,000 crore , could, by the same year, generate between 117,000 to 235,000 jobs. The small hydro and biomass sectors, meanwhile, are expected to be worth Rs 27,000 crore and Rs 32,000 crore respectively in 2020, resulting in similar estimates for job creation.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The potential around the clean technology eco-system is even bigger. As part of the government’s special economic zone (SEZ) plans, investment subsidies of 20-25 per cent for semiconductors worth Rs 153,384 crore, the eco-system that creates critical components for the industry will employ some 3.6 million people by 2015.
About 5 million jobs would come from growing biofuels, though questions arise about food security if biofuels displace crops.
In addition, the IT-BPO industry also has a part to play in the green jobs boom. According to industry estimates, the $71.7 billion IT-BPO industry provides direct employment to nearly 2.23 million, the estimates for direct involvement in creation and management of delivery systems for clean energy via software.
One thing is for certain. The jobs boom needs to be accompanied by a rise in skilled green collar workers.
Adds Rajiv Seth, registrar and professor of finance, Teri University: “What are then required are degree or diploma programmes which have built-in elements of ecological and societal issues, and which address elements of sustainable development in a multidisciplinary manner so as to close the current skill gaps.”
The Centre for Environment Education and the Teri University offer programmes related to the environment and sustainable development. Elsewhere in the country, business schools such as the Indian Institutes of Management are also greening their curriculum by introducing courses in green manufacturing and carbon finance.
With green businesses growing rapidly in scope, a skilled green workforce will help India leapfrog the efforts of more developed economies.
