wl-6584-Energy Transition Politics in the Global South: Understanding Feedbacks in India’s Solar and Electric Vehicle Transitions

Energy transitions are inherently political and therefore, examining feedbacks between policy, politics, and technology is crucial to understanding transition dynamics. Sustainability transitions literature has so far focused mostly on developed nations and argues that feedbacks are generated in a way that allow countries to adopt stronger policies which are better aligned with their industrial goals. However, relatively less attention has been paid to the operation of feedbacks in developing countries such as India. This study explores policy, politics, and technology feedbacks in India’s solar and electric vehicle transitions. It shows that, unlike low-carbon leaders, in developing countries like India, feedbacks are entrenched in an initial dependent coupling with global conditions which create resistance to achieving industrial policy goals. The study proposes a sequential model that captures the contradictions and tensions in India’s low-carbon technological transitions and argues for developing a strategic green industrial policy. It also recommends more research on feedbacks in other developing countries to validate and/or modify the proposed model.