19SEPTEMBER, 2025In the Conference on Future of Jobs organized by CII- Ministry of Labour and Employment, Rajendra Mehta, President & Group CHRO at Suzlon Group, shares his perspective on green jobs and skill development to build a future-ready workforce for renewables in India. He also shed light on how India progresses in the renewable energy sector and the role of stakeholders in the timely implementation of renewable energy initiatives to achieve the nation's energy goals by 2030. Following are the key insights from his address:INDUSTRY INSIGHTSHOW GREEN JOBS ARE SHAPING INDIA'S RENEWABLE ENERGY WORKFORCERenewable Energy's Role in India's 2030 VisionIn the span of 2025 to 2030, there would be an additional 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel and 500 gigawatts of non fossil fuel energy mix that would witness in 2030. From the current capacities that renewable energy has, solar energy will multiply three times, wind energy will multiply two times, and hydro energy will multiply approximately 1.5 times. Hence, by 2030 50 percent of the energy mix will derive from renewable sources, providing huge opportunities for green jobs across these three sectors can bring about in the energy mix in the years ahead. From stakeholder's point of view, they need to take on a leadership role in this initiative. It is also crucial to empathize with the cause of renewable energy as climate change remains one of the government's biggest agenda.Stakeholders need to communicate so that the traction of these implementations of renewable initiatives takes shape and the delivery implementations happen on time, and within the timelines that the government has specified. India's GDP growth is expected to reach USD 5 trillion by 2030, which will enhance the urbanization that is likely to happen. It will also bring a lot of data centers in India, marking the most significant uptake currently anticipated. Besides, adopting electric vehicles will spur the demand for electric energy, emphasizing the need to focus on the energy mix and its uptake.The gigahertz of energy growth so far has been about 5 percent. However, an uptake will increase to 7 percent over the next two years. Wind energy capacity additions are likely to be about 122 gigawatts by 2030. At the same time, the European Union's commission export policies are also pushing the CNI, the corporate and institutions to ensure the renewable inputs that happen in the product manufacturing. So, these areas ensure that the drive for renewable energy will have stronger demand in the near future.Harnessing the Gigawatt OpportunityCurrently, the total implementation of gigawatts in wind energy is about 47 gigawatts. However, the potential for wind energy is vast, with an estimated capacity of 1,164 gigawatts, a huge opportunity that needs to be leveraged. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) means that the fuel and the energy cost from a fossil input to a nonfossil input, whether solar or wind, give you a very economical value of energy cost. This cost-effectiveness is expected to drive an actual increase in renewable energy adoption as the economic advantages of renewables become increasingly important. Green hydrogen initiatives are likely to ensure that an additional 125 gigawatts of energy intake will happen. With favorable demand drivers or domestic demand, the schemes in place are seen as favorable for the growth of renewable energy in the coming years. Presently, the capacity implemented is about 47 gigawatts of wind energy, and 36 gigawatts of wind pipelines are already in the commissioning stages. By 2030, the target is to reach 100 gigawatts of wind installations, with 83 gigawatts having high visibility at this stage. Three broad pillars would be the key drivers of renewable from a wind sector wind perspective. The first is onshore, followed by offshore and manufacturing capacities, which the nation has a very marginal portion of that is being utilized. The nation already has 16 gigawatts of manufacturing capacity, with around 8 to 9 gigawatts being utilized for internal Rajendra Mehta, President & Group CHRORajendra Mehta, President & Group CHRO, Suzlon Group
< Page 9 | Page 11 >