India's climate pledge rests on green growth story

Renewable energy is changing the country's dynamic, turning lives around and allowing people to be part of the green growth story. This is the basis of its climate commitments ahead of crucial talks in Paris, reports India Today

Every summer, as India's biggest cities resort to 'load shedding' to keep pace with the demand for power, its residents cuss and sweat, waiting for the comforting whirr of the fan and the hum of the air conditioner that allows them to stay insulated from the reality that millions of others live with - a life without electricity.

As our society transforms and our cities get more and more attractive to migrants seeking 'the good life', our urbanisation experiment gets impetus. Everyone wants to be on the grid and some, like those in Dharnai village in Bihar, get to do so by harnessing the flood of sunshine that defines their lives for most of the year. Dharnai became India's first solar-powered village in July last year, literally lighting up the lives of people here who only knew life in the dark.