Jharkhand, a mineral-rich state in Eastern India, has been at the forefront of India's energy security and job creation in mining, transportation, and associated downstream industries. As India embarks on the challenging journey towards achieving its net-zero target of 2070, states like Jharkhand will experience a significant transformation in their economies and industries while balancing energy security and development. Greener sources, especially solar energy, will drive India's energy landscape shift, leading to a gradual decline in dependence on conventional fossil fuel-based energy sources. A decrease in fossil fuel consumption will benefit the environment; however, it can impact the most vulnerable section of the society dependent upon these resources for income & livelihood.

As the concept of Just Transition gains traction worldwide and becomes increasingly integrated into policy and decision-making, it is essential to focus on creating new green jobs, especially in regions vulnerable to energy transition.

Leveraging Jharkhand's Workforce for a Green Transition

Jharkhand is well-positioned for a just transition, as its economy relies heavily on natural resource extraction with a limited base of advanced, new and emerging technologies. Approximately 60 per cent of Jharkhand's population falls within the 15–59 working age group, matching the national average of nearly two-thirds of Indians in this age bracket. However, unemployment and female participation in the workforce are worse than the national average. A well-planned transition could enable Jharkhand to capitalize on its rising working population, leveraging a demographic dividend. Considering the quantum leap envisaged by the country in new and emerging technologies, Jharkhand could create new green jobs in the state, potentially offsetting the impact on employment in conventional industries.

Estimates suggest that renewable energy in India will generate 54 million green jobs by 2030, with the solar and wind sector alone employing over a million people. Moreover, renewable energy projects generate 7.5 times more full-time jobs/dollars of investment than fossil fuels, as per the Renewable Energy & Jobs Annual Review 2030 of IRENA.

Unlocking Jharkhand's Green Economy: Key Sectors for Job Creation

Considering that Jharkhand lags behind other industrialized states, it could focus on creating the base by 2030 and then use the conducive business environment to develop investments and related job opportunities exponentially. The areas where Jharkhand could focus to create jobs in the short to medium term are:

Manufacturing of equipment for new and emerging technology: The value chain and required ecosystem for new and emerging technologies- such as lithium-ion batteries for energy storage applications & mobility, solar panels, power & electric vehicle electronics, etc., are still in the early stages of development in India. Since Jharkhand is the country's largest producer of critical minerals, it could attract investments in integrated mining and manufacturing to reduce the logistics and other associated costs for interested companies.

Clean power generation: Currently, renewable energy sources concentrate on high-potential sites, with solar generation in the west, wind in the south and west, and hydro in the north and northeast of the country. Although Jharkhand has limited potential for wind and hydro, the state can capitalize on solar power generation. Power distribution companies (DISCOMs) and commercial & industrial (C&I) consumers prefer sourcing solar power from plants in high-irradiation zones in states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra, benefitting from the current waiver on transmission charges for renewable energy. The sunset clause for this waiver ends in 2025, and imposing transmission and related charges on solar power sourced from these states will eliminate the trade-off between sourcing electricity from high-irradiation centres and generating renewable power near load centres within Jharkhand. This change will enable developers to build new solar projects within the state to meet the demand of Jharkhand and nearby states, including high-paying C&I consumers.

Jharkhand could also explore technologies with moderate technological readiness level (TRL) and higher potential closely knitted with its existing strengths, such as coal gasification, usage of end-of-life mines for gravity-based storage, pumped storage hydro, etc. Promoting these technologies now could help Jharkhand achieve a leadership position in the near future.

Clean mobility: Jharkhand's automobile industry is at the heart of India's mobility sector, especially in commercial vehicles. Jamshedpur is the largest automobile cluster in eastern India. Approximately 1500 industries exist in the Adityapur industrial hub, with 85 per cent in auto parts manufacturing. Considering India's thrust on EVs and target of achieving 30 per cent of the same by 2030, the state can leverage its automobile experience to create a conducive environment. Creating an environment would require existing manufacturers to diversify into EV components and attract new manufacturers focused on EVs. A few initial steps could be a comprehensive EV manufacturing policy with additional perks such as dedicated land banks, financial/tax incentives, and capacity building.

Green molecules: Jharkhand produces nearly  a quarter of the total steel produced in the country. Cities such as Bokaro and Jamshedpur depend almost entirely on steel production and related industries. The iron and steel industry, often called 'hard-to-abate' sectors owing to its processes being dependent upon coking coal for production, is increasingly looking towards green hydrogen to decarbonize the widely used BF-BOF route. The producers would need to shift to alternative technologies, including the ones using green hydrogen, considering regulations (CBAM, IRA, etc.) in target markets, green public procurement standards, and increasing demand for green steel by large downstream industries such as automobile manufacturers (Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, etc.). The state can widely benefit from the economy-wide decarbonization front and job creation by creating an enabling ecosystem to produce green hydrogen as a feedstock for these plants. 

While these are broad areas where the state could focus, a few systematic actions on the part of the Government would be required, such as setting up a green skills training centre focusing on reskilling and upskilling the existing workforce, fostering collaboration between industry and academia, facilitating investments, and revising industrial policy to green industrial policy, amongst others. #