India’s startups are tackling emissions head-on. Will the ecosystem rise to support it?

India is living the climate crisis in real time. In recent months, states from Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to Maharashtra have reeled under landslides, floods, and heat extremes. The past year saw extreme weather for most of its days, inflicting a heavy toll in lives, farms and homes. Against this backdrop, a new generation of climate-focused entrepreneurs is racing to blunt the country’s emissions trajectory and build resilience.

A climate emergency collides with an innovation boom

More than 800 climate-tech ventures have sprung up across India, and well over 600 of them are targeting direct emissions cuts. Over 200 were founded within the last three years alone, tackling everything from EV charging and efficient buildings to circular materials and low-carbon industry. Names like Bounce Infinity, Smart Joules, MiniMines, and AltCarbon are emblematic of a broader surge of problem-solvers.

They have no shortage of work. Under a business-as-usual outlook, national greenhouse gas output could nearly double by 2040 from roughly 3,000 MtCO2e in 2020. As economic activity expands, every major sector will face pressure to decarbonize, with transport and buildings poised to be among the fastest-growing sources.

Hardware-heavy realities slow the march to market

Climate solutions are not just code and dashboards. Roughly four in five emissions-cutting startups are building physical products or industrial systems. That imposes steep upfront costs, slower growth curves, and challenging unit economics at low volumes. Early manufacturing runs are often too small to be viable, yet too large and expensive for cash-strapped teams—especially in categories such as green hydrogen and carbon capture, where minimum order quantities and scale economies can be unforgiving.

Funding architecture rarely matches these realities. Many founders lean on dilutive venture capital before their technology is ready for commercial risk, because grant-style ideation funding is scarce. Others take on bank or NBFC debt in the absence of alternatives, adding repayment pressure that can dampen experimentation and slow iteration.

Customer adoption lags for similar reasons. High upfront costs, long payback periods, and fear of rapid obsolescence keep buyers cautious. Meanwhile, policy support for research and development is concentrated at lab stages, leaving a “valley of death” from pilot to demonstration to early plants. Only about a quarter of startups report protected IP—another sign that the journey from invention to scalable product remains underpowered.

What it will take to convert promise into progress

India can decouple growth from emissions and set a compelling example for the Global South. But that requires four urgent shifts to unlock scale, speed and staying power.

• Create markets, not just technologies.
  Demand signals are the oxygen for first-of-a-kind projects. Government and large buyers can catalyze early markets through long-term procurement, performance-based standards, and clear phase-in timelines for cleaner fuels, building efficiency, and industrial heat. A robust domestic carbon market and transparent MRV can turn abatement into bankable revenue. Demand aggregation—for fleets, appliances, or low-carbon materials—can de-risk production runs and drive costs down faster.
• Build an enabling ecosystem for hardware at scale.
  India needs more shared testbeds, pilot corridors, and demonstration zones for sectors like heavy mobility, hydrogen, bio-based chemicals, and grid-scale storage. Flexible contract manufacturing that accepts smaller batches, alongside component libraries and design-for-manufacture support, can shrink the cost of iteration. Public procurement can be a springboard: setting reliability thresholds, paying for performance, and standardizing specs to accelerate adoption across states and PSUs.
• Bring finance that fits deep-tech timelines.
  Blended finance—combining grants, first-loss capital, and concessional debt—should target the TRL 4–7 gap to move teams from lab to field. Viability-gap support and results-based incentives can crowd in private lenders. Patient equity for industrial hardware, milestone-based grants, green bonds tied to verified abatement, and equipment leasing or pay-as-you-save models for customers can all shorten paybacks and spread risk. Credit guarantees for early off-take and insurance for performance can further normalize adoption.
• Open global pathways for Indian solutions.
  Alignment with international standards, certification for low-carbon products, and export finance can help Indian startups plug into global supply chains. Strategic partnerships with large manufacturers and utilities can accelerate technology transfer, localize high-value components, and scale production. IP support—fast-track examination, patent pools in pre-competitive areas, and licensable reference designs—can convert research into durable advantages.

Signals of momentum—and what to watch next

Early clusters are forming in EVs, energy efficiency services, circular materials, and grid management. ESCO-style contracts are easing customer capex in buildings and industry; pilot corridors for hydrogen and battery swapping are taking shape; and state-level procurement is starting to favor efficient equipment. But to meet net-zero ambitions and keep pace with climate realities, these sparks must become systems.

Three near-term moves would signal that shift is underway: a credible domestic carbon market with strong MRV; a national demonstration fund for industrial and heavy-transport decarbonization; and standardized green public procurement across major agencies. Together, they would validate demand, smooth the path from prototype to plant, and lower financing costs.

The decisive decade

India’s climate-tech founders have shown resolve, ingenuity, and speed. The question now is whether the broader ecosystem—policy, finance, manufacturing, and markets—will move just as decisively. If it does, the country can curb emissions while advancing jobs, competitiveness, and energy security. If it doesn’t, promising technologies will stall in pilots while climate risks grow costlier. The opportunity is here; so is the urgency.