Green economy could attract $4.1 trillion investments, create 48 million jobs in India by 2025: CEEW study

India could attract USD 4.1 trillion in cumulative green investments and create 48 million full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, according to a study launched on Wednesday by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), a Delhi-based public policy think tank.

The analysis further projects that India could unlock a USD 1.1 trillion or ₹97.7 lakh crore annual green market by 2047. This first-of-its-kind national assessment identifies 36 green value chains across energy transition, circular economy, and bio-economy and nature-based solutions that together represent a defining green economic opportunity for India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat.

A green economy is often viewed narrowly as solar panels and electric vehicles. However, the study highlights a far broader opportunity that extends to bio-based materials, agroforestry, green construction, sustainable tourism, circular manufacturing, waste-to-value industries and nature-based livelihoods, each of which could scale into billion-dollar sectors over the next two decades while strengthening resource security and resilience.

"India's green transition is fundamentally net positive: it can create millions of jobs, accelerate growth, improve public health and strengthen national security by shifting to domestic energy sources. The value chains identified in this CEEW study point to where this trillion-dollar opportunity lies," said Jayant Sinha, former Union Minister and president, Everstone Group and Eversource Capital and former Union Minister of State at the launch of the study titled 'Building a Green Economy for Viksit Bharat: New Opportunities for Jobs, Growth and Sustainability.’

The study is a first-of-its-kind assessment of 36 emerging value chains across the energy transition, circular economy, and bio- and nature-based solutions

Amitabh Kant, former G20 Sherpa and CEO of NITI Aayog, stated that as India transitions to a USD 3 trillion economy, the country cannot emulate the development models of the West.

"With much of our infrastructure yet to be built, we have a unique chance to design cities, industries and supply chains around circularity, clean energy and the bioeconomy. Just as digital public infrastructure enabled India to leapfrog technologically — achieving in seven years what would have taken decades — we must now pole-vault into a green economy.

According to CEEW analysis, energy transition alone could generate 16.6 million FTE jobs and attract USD 3.79 trillion in investments across renewables, storage, distributed energy and clean mobility manufacturing.

Electric mobility would be the single largest employer within the green economy, driving over 57 per cent of all energy-transition jobs. Bio-economy and nature-based solutions, rooted in India's rural and peri-urban landscapes, could create 23 million jobs and unlock a market value of USD 415 billion.

The top job-generating value chains within this segment include chemical-free agriculture and bio-inputs (7.2 million FTE jobs), agroforestry and sustainable forest management (4.7 million FTE jobs), and wetland management (3.7 million FTE jobs).

-Electric mobility would be the single largest employer within the green economy, driving over 57 per cent of all energy-transition jobs.

-Bio-economy and nature-based solutions, anchored in India’s rural and peri-urban landscapes, could create 23 million jobs and unlock USD 415 billion in market value.

-The top job-generating value chains within this segment include chemical-free agriculture and bio-inputs (7.2 million FTE jobs), agroforestry and sustainable forest management (4.7 million FTE jobs), and wetland management (3.7 million FTE jobs).

-Circular economy could generate USD 132 billion in annual economic output and create 8.4 million FTE jobs across waste collection, recycling, repair, refurbishment and material recovery. Of these, 7.6 million FTE jobs would arise from waste-related activities, including roles in collection, sorting, aggregation, recycling operations, and last-mile resource recovery—sectors that could see improved wages and working conditions as systems formalise.

-Together, these opportunities represent one of India’s largest untapped economic opportunities, with deep linkages to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), cooperatives and community enterprises.

The CEEW study also identifies significant challenges, including lowering capital costs for early-stage sectors, enhancing supply chains for raw and recycled materials, strengthening R&D and innovation, developing a technically skilled workforce, and establishing trusted product standards for emerging green technologies.

Coordinated action across ministries, state governments, industries, finance and local institutions will be essential to integrate green value chains into mainstream economic planning, the study said.