The India Energy Hour Presented by 101Reporters Why India’s Energy Transition Is a States Story | ft. Neelima Jain
Apr 2, 2026
Neelima Jain, Director of Industrial and Trade Policy at UC Berkeley’s India Energy and Climate Center, who helped scale UJALA and national street lighting programs. She discusses why state governments and utilities drive India’s transition. Conversations cover state-level policy design, industrial decarbonization, where clean growth beats fossil choices, and how peer learning between states can speed implementation.
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Knocking On Doors To Validate Energy Savings
- At Sequest Capital Neelima planned Bachat Lampyojna replacing incandescents with CFLs and managed MRV by tracking individual bulbs and households.
- She learned grassroots implementation by knocking on doors in Kapurthala, Amritsar and Kuntur for measurement and verification.
Building UJALA From State Pilots
- Neelima was deputed to ESL via GIZ and helped design pilots for UJALA and the National Street Lighting Program, starting a 300,000-bulb Pondicherry pilot.
- The first procurement alone cut LED prices substantially, from ~₹800 toward much lower levels, demonstrating rapid market impact.
Why States Are The Real Energy Decision Makers
- Electricity is concurrent under India's constitution but states actually run distribution, tariffs and PPA decisions, making them the execution point for national targets.
- Land, water and local governance are state subjects, so delivery of national RE goals depends on state action and politics.