Driving sustainable energy futures: Lessons from India and South Africa energy transition strategies

This paper offers a novel comparative perspective on the energy transitions of India and South Africa, two coal-dependent developing economies facing similar structural challenges but with sharply divergent outcomes. Unlike existing single-country analyses or descriptive policy reviews, our study develops an integrated comparative framework that distinguishes between structural constraints (coal reliance, ageing infrastructure, and grid reliability issues) and enabling factors (policy sequencing, institutional capacity, governance arrangements, and political economy dynamics). This approach reveals that India's coherent sequencing of renewable and rural electrification policies, supported by large-scale solar and wind deployment and the political influence of rural constituencies, generated synergistic effects that accelerated universal electricity access. In contrast, South Africa's centralized governance model, institutional bottlenecks, and reliance on an ageing coal fleet limited responsiveness to growing access demands. Importantly, the analysis also interrogates contested claims – such as engineering-based efficiency estimates – by incorporating empirical evidence of the “energy efficiency gap,” thereby strengthening the validity of our findings. By combining critical assessment of policy implementation with cross-country benchmarking, this paper makes a novel contribution to the literature on just and sustainable transitions, offering fresh insights into how institutional design and political economy dynamics shape energy transition outcomes in developing economies. This study compares India and South Africa's energy transitions, emphasizing renewable energy integration, socio-economic equity, and policy innovation. It provides actionable frameworks for low-carbon transitions recommendation for sustainable energy development in emerging economies. • Comparative insights into India and South Africa's energy transition strategies. • Policy recommendations for equitable, low-carbon energy transitions in emerging economies. • Lessons on renewable energy integration, social inclusion, and capacity development. • Actionable frameworks for sustainable energy transitions addressing coal dependency. • Novel approaches to leveraging regional energy integration for grid reliability and efficiency.