Hyderabad, November 16, 2024…. The Federation of Telangana Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTCCI) organised a roundtable on “Toward Net-Zero: Opportunities for Economic Diversification and Investment in Coal Districts of Telangana”, at its FTCCI office. It was hosted along with Swaniti Initiative, a Delhi-based public policy organisation. Swaniti Initiative has conducted a year-long study to understand Coal Dependency and the pathway to economic diversification in the Coal districts of Telangana.
Sri Rishi Kishore, Fellow and Deeksha Pande, Associate Fellow at Swaniti Initiative, presented Swaniti’s research study on Telangana’s coal-dependent district-Mancherial and Peddapalli as a case study to explain the concepts of Just Transition and Net Zero. At the same time, they emphasised that economic diversification is the only solution for the coal-dependent districts to have a resilient and sustainable future. The findings of the study highlighted the current dependency on coal for both the households and enterprises in each district. The revenue dependency on the coal in these districts is also presented. The team has thrown light on the challenges of diversification for industries, and based on the research findings, the sector for diversification in both the districts at the sub-district level was also presented.
At the end of the presentation, the pathway for diversification to the identified sector was also presented. The presentation also explained how diversification can be an opportunity for industrialists and entrepreneurs to invest and expand their businesses. The role of FTCCI in the case of Just-Transition and Net-Zero 2047 is also discussed in detail.
The FTCCI members and Swaniti’s team agree that awareness about the net-zero and Just transition is required in the state at all levels, investment in skills in the new potential sector is needed, and the policy push is required from the government to promote investment. All the participants agreed with the recommendation of the Swaniti team that a Net-Zero committee within FTCCI needs to be formed for better coordination creating awareness about the topic and championing the policy reform to bring investment in the coal districts. The FTCCI will deliberate on the topic of the creation of a committee with its office bearer.
Shri R. Ravi Kumar, Sr. Vice President FTCCI, delivered a welcome address
Sri Srinivas Garimella, Chair of the Industrial Development Committee of FTCCI, moderated the discussion and shared his insight on the topic.
The panelists discussed the formal and informal livelihood that the coal sector provides in the region, the trajectory of coal production and consumption, India’s energy and the centrality of coal in India’s growth. The participant agrees that coal has multiplier effects on the local economy, and in the case of net zero, the livelihood of local communities must be taken care of, so that no one is left behind in the journey of Energy transition.
The roundtable was attended by President Sri Suresh Kumar Singhal; Vice President Sri K K Maheshwari; Sri Vijay Gopal Reddy, Co-Chair of Energy Committee; Sriram Kolasani-State Lead-Swaniti Initiative and other dignified members of FTCCI.