India’s Quest To Cut Fossil Fuel And Other Cleantech Trends For 2026 |
A blend of bold policy moves and growing private-sector innovation drove Indian cleantech in 2025. However, the shift still faced several significant gaps.
The nationwide rollout of 20% ethanol-blended petrol (E20) clearly reflects this picture. While the government intends to cut emissions and reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, the move has ignited several concerns. The implementation happened nonetheless.
Private enterprises and academic institutions are also stepping up their game in the emerging biofuel trends, which has become a focal point for cleantech. These range from generating electricity or green hydrogen from waste to biotechnology innovation for producing cleaner gases and aviation fuels. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
For instance, Karnataka’s Udupi now has India’s first industrial-scale biofuel and biochar carbon removal plant, established by an Indo-Danish climate tech startup, MASH Makes. The startup uses cashew waste to produce biofuel for heavy industries like shipping and biochar, a soil enhancer that improves fertility and captures carbon.
Besides, the Adani Group recently announced the successful commissioning of India’s first off-grid 5 MW green hydrogen pilot plant in Gujarat. Earlier this year, Reliance Bioenergy started the process of setting up 500 compressed bio-gas (CBG) plants in Andhra Pradesh, utilising 5 Lakh acres of wasteland for renewable energy production.
While India’s installed biopower capacity remains modest, around 11 GW of the country’s 505 GW total power generation capacity, experts see the momentum gaining pace.
Meanwhile, they are also hopeful about green hydrogen, which is poised to see better days ahead. What else? Well, as we inch closer to 2026, we have endeavoured to trace and track India’s cleantech and energy transition trends as part of Inc42’s 2025 In Review series. Here’s what to expect…
India’s Biofuel Transition
Besides ethanol blending, experts are observing an increasing push for producing greener and cleaner gases.
According to Vasudha Madhavan, founder and CEO of climate-focussed investment advisor firm Ostara Advisor, the focus is shifting towards replacing a part of the LPG, CNG, and LNG demand with clean gaseous biofuels like biomethane, produced through biodigestion of organic waste.
“LPG, CNG, and LNG are still........