Sunbeams and Purpose chart pathways for long haul freight decarbonisation

New Delhi: Clean mobility platform Riding Sunbeams, in partnership with Purpose, convened a high-level closed-door roundtable at the India International Centre to chart practical pathways for decarbonising India’s long-haul freight sector.

Held as part of Delhi Climate Innovation Week, the dialogue brought together senior policymakers, industry leaders, researchers and financiers to align regulations, technology and finance for near-term action in one of India’s hardest-to-abate sectors.

With India’s freight demand projected to grow rapidly alongside economic expansion, experts warned that without decisive intervention, freight emissions could more than double by mid-century, undermining national climate and air quality goals while increasing fuel import dependency.

Rahul Kapoor, Director Finance at the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd, stressed the need for an integrated approach in his opening remarks.

“Policy cannot be looked at in isolation. To scale up islands of excellence happening all over India, an overall structured approach that considers technology, policy ecosystem, human resource, economics, livelihoods and alignment between central and state governments is required. This will help foster not just innovation but affordable innovation,” he said.

The roundtable was structured around three themes: fuel efficiency norms and regulatory ecosystems; innovation and technology readiness; and investment pathways for systemic transformation.

Amit Bhatt, Managing Director of ICCT India, underlined the importance of long-term demand certainty.

“There is a growing appetite for freight decarbonisation with massive changes happening in the regulatory system. Incentives are useful for an initial kickstart, but sustaining long-term change requires strategic policy pathways that define the strength of various modes and deliver clear targets for different technologies,” he noted.

On technology readiness and infrastructure preparedness, Kaustubh Gosavi, Program Lead for Electric Mobility at WRI India, pointed to the implications of rapid electrification.

“With electrification of road freight, close to 10,000 trucks are expected in the next five years. What does this mean for the load on our grid? What solutions do we need to prepare our energy ecosystem for this demand, and how do we integrate renewable energy while ensuring viability?” he asked.

Mahak Agrawal, India Lead at Riding Sunbeams, said the session was intentionally structured as a working meeting rather than a conventional panel discussion.

“This roundtable was designed not as a panel discussion, but as a working session to surface practical bottlenecks and identify investable solutions. If we are serious about net-zero pathways, freight must move from the margins to the mainstream of climate strategy,” she said.

Participants examined the readiness of electric and alternative-fuel heavy-duty vehicles, grid and charging infrastructure needs, multimodal logistics optimisation, and the role of concessional and catalytic finance in accelerating adoption.

Discussions emphasised the need to create demand certainty, de-risk early adoption, and foster deeper collaboration between public and private stakeholders to drive scalable change.

The convening concluded with agreement to develop a concise post-roundtable briefing note capturing key insights, areas of convergence, and immediate next steps, signalling a shift from dialogue toward coordinated action in India’s freight decarbonisation journey.