Varun PSearching job titles like ‘Solar Technician’ or ‘Solar Engineer’ on India’s leading job portals, such as Naukri and Apna, it throws up 40-50 openings across the country. Similarly, open positions in EV companies and sustainability-related job roles also have a notable presence.
With a growing demand for addressing environmental challenges and boosting climate action, the demand for green-collar workers is on a sharp upward trajectory. These workers will be responsible for ‘green jobs’ that will play a key role as countries and businesses transition to net-zero emissions.
Furthermore, the younger workforce is increasingly eager to pursue green jobs, with recent data indicating a strong and rising interest, particularly among Generation Z.
According to Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, two out of 10 Gen Zs (23%) and millennials (22%) mentioned they have researched a company’s environmental impact or policies before accepting a job from them.
India’s rapidly rising economy presents a complex set of environmental challenges that impact public health, sustainability, and long-term growth prospects. Economic expansion, urbanisation, and industrialisation have led to issues like extreme weather events, pollution, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.
However, these challenges present significant opportunities to create a green economy, driven by renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, waste management, green mobility, environmental conservation, reporting, and policymaking.
Opportunities in the Green Economy in India
Several government-sponsored schemes are in place to mitigate climate change and address environmental issues, which promote sustainable development in India.
The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) provides a comprehensive framework for all climate actions in areas such as solar energy, enhanced energy efficiency, sustainable habitat, etc.
Launched in 2008, NAPCC is a cornerstone of India’s strategy to promote a green economy, integrating climate action into development through sectoral missions, policy innovation, green investments, and capacity building.
As part of India’s climate goals, the country has set ambitious targets for renewable energy and emissions reduction.
At the Glasgow Climate Summit, India committed to achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based energy capacity by 2030 and net-zero by 2070.
This goal provides a broad guideline to mainstream climate and sustainability within development planning, ensuring that both adaptation and mitigation strategies deliver economic co-benefits (jobs, livelihoods, infrastructure) and ecological improvements.
Over the years, the government has launched several schemes and initiatives in the renewables sectors (solar, wind, storage, green hydrogen, bioenergy), creating a huge demand for green skills, jobs and career opportunities.
The green skills, especially in renewable energy, help India reduce dependency on fossil fuels, stabilise energy prices, and enhance national energy security.
While renewable energy sources are expanding, they alone cannot meet power demands, making nuclear power a key component of India’s energy strategy.
In 2024, the government announced a financial outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore (US$2.3 billion) to set up a Nuclear Energy Mission, and a target of 100 GW of nuclear energy by 2047 from the current 8.8 GW.
According to estimates, cumulative investments for India’s energy transition could be higher than US$500 billion over 6 to 8 years. This has the potential to generate green jobs in India for 10 million people.
Agriculture is another major sector in India that provides livelihood support to over 40% of the country’s population. However, climate change poses severe challenges, threatening food security, environmental sustainability, and most importantly, rural livelihoods.
To address any fallout on agriculture, the government has introduced several schemes to promote natural farming and sustainable agriculture, thereby helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change and create new green jobs in India, such as Soil & Water Testing Lab Analyst, Micro Irrigation Technician, Solar Pump Technician, Hydroponics Technician, etc.
The automotive industry’s shift to EVs is another area that can create millions of direct and indirect jobs as India targets to attain a 30% share of electric vehicles (EVs) by the end of this decade.
Driven by rising fuel prices, technological innovations, emerging startups, and supportive policies, electric mobility in India is witnessing a steady increase.
While the adoption of EVs in India has been slower than in some leading countries such as the US, EU and China, there is a huge potential for massive job creation, if continuous support is provided.
Rapid urbanisation and higher consumer spending are expected to lead to a massive increase in waste generation over the next 10-20 years. This also presents a huge opportunity in the circular economy sector to transform waste from ‘environmental bad’ to ‘economic good’.
In 2022, India launched a global initiative, Mission LiFE, aimed at fostering sustainable lifestyles through mindful and deliberate consumption to protect the environment. The initiative emphasises the importance of circular economy principles, reduce, repair, reuse, recycle.
To implement the circular economy, the government has notified regulations on market-based Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in respect of plastic packaging waste, battery waste, e-waste, waste tyres, used oil, end-of-life vehicles, construction & demolition waste and non-ferrous metal scrap.
New products and services based on repair, refurbishment, and recycling are newer markets which have a wide array of jobs for minimally skilled roles in waste collection, semi-skilled roles in repair, refurbishment and recycling, and highly skilled roles in design and re-engineering.
The implementation of the EPR framework creates a sustainable ecosystem for environmentally sound management of waste, which provides additional revenues and promotes integration of the informal recycling sector into the formal sector, along with the recovery of resources from waste.
The promotion of the recycling ecosystem under the EPR framework provides opportunities for the creation of millions of green jobs in India.
Expressing his views in one of the forums, India’s Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav, mentioned that the circular economy may bring the biggest transformations in business since the Industrial Revolution. He added that India’s circular economy could generate a market value of over $2 trillion and create close to 10 million jobs by 2050.
Additionally, sectors such as environmental protection, wildlife conservation, green building, eco-tourism, and ESG reporting are evolving rapidly, offering diverse opportunities for skilled and unskilled workers.
Skilling of Green Jobs in India
All these scenarios present a need for reskilling and upskilling as demand for green skills in India is outstripping supply.
In 2015, the Government of India established the Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) to address skilled manpower requirements for emerging climate-resilient technologies and India’s commitments under the UNFCCC.
SCGJ, led by industry leaders, is mandated to identify the skill development needs of the sector as well as to determine skill competency standards.
It has developed 58 qualifications approved by the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) in Green Skilling. The qualifications cover trades such as Solar PV, Green Hydrogen, Waste Management, BioEnergy, GHG accounting, etc.
The Skill Council for Green Jobs has trained approximately 663,000 candidates under Green Skills tracks. These trainings are carried out under various government schemes, various state missions and industry-supported programs.
Furthermore, many private and government-funded educational institutions are coming forward to impart climate change courses in India.
Wrapping Up
India’s target of net-zero emissions by 2070 and ambitious climate-related goals are accelerating massive investments and job creation in green sectors, with many public sector enterprises, large businesses, and green startups playing their part.
However, current education and training systems are not fully prepared to meet growing demand. Only people in big cities and urban areas are aware of the possibilities of green jobs in India or how to access relevant training.
Therefore, skill-building programs and awareness around green careers need significant strengthening, especially in rural areas and among women and informal workers.
Green jobs in India can be a crucial force multiplier in sustainable development and green economic growth, provided India continues to provide strong policy support, capacity building, and targeted investment in skills and technology.
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