The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its annual flagship report titled ‘World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with jobs’ has estimated that over 3 lakh workers will be employed directly in the solar and wind energy sectors in India to achieve the country’s target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity well before 2022. It noted that to meet the target, the number of workers required by ground-mounted solar, rooftop solar and wind power projects, will need to increase. It pointed out that 24 million new jobs are expected to be created globally by 2030, if the right policies to promote a greener economy are put in place.
The report stated that the potential for employment creation is conditional on the domestic capacity of solar module manufacturing and the establishment of vocational training programmes and certification schemes. Besides, it said that India has made environmental sustainability a central objective of its development strategy in its twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012-17) and set up a comprehensive framework for skills development for green transition at the national level, targeting key sectors and institutions like the Skills Council for Green Jobs was set up for the purpose in 2015. It pointed out that based on the identification of skills needs in these sectors, 26 new Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) courses have been developed for occupations ranging from water treatment plant helper to solar project manager and improved cooking stove installer.
The UN labour agency has stated that India is rapidly increasing its share of renewable energy sources but still relies on coal, oil and natural gas and the related carbon emissions for 80 percent of its electricity. It predicts that the transition to a green economy will also lead to the loss of six million jobs in industries that are heavily reliant on carbon-based production. It added that only two petroleum related sectors namely extraction and refining would see substantial losses of jobs running to more than a million.
Start Research-backed Investing ...Now. Subscribe to Sapphire
MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.
To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.
MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through: