India's Freight Sector Needs Coordinated Policy, Not Just Incentives, Say Experts

Senior policymakers, industry leaders, researchers and financiers convened in New Delhi on February 26, 2026, to identify practical steps for decarbonising India's long-haul freight sector — a segment projected to more than double its emissions by mid-century without intervention.

The closed-door roundtable, organised by Riding Sunbeams and Purpose at the India International Centre as part of Delhi Climate Innovation Week, was structured around three themes: fuel efficiency norms and regulatory ecosystems, innovation and technology readiness, and investment pathways for systemic action.

Rahul Kapoor, Director Finance at the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd, Government of India, opened the session by underlining the limits of siloed thinking. "Policy cannot be looked at in isolation. To scale up islands of excellences happening all over India, an overall structured approach that considers technology, policy ecosystem, human resource, economics, livelihoods and aligns central and various state governments is required. This will help foster not just innovation but affordable innovation."

On the regulatory front, Amit Bhatt, Managing Director of ICCT India, pointed to momentum in the system but cautioned against over-reliance on short-term measures. "There is a growing appetite for freight decarbonisation with massive changes happening in the regulatory system. This change needs to be driven at scale, incentives are good for an initial kickstart but sustaining long term change requires strategic policy pathways that defines the strength of various modes and delivers clear targets for different technologies."

The electrification of road freight brought its own set of questions. Kaustubh Gosavi, Program Lead for Electric Mobility at WRI India, noted: "With electrification of road freight, close to 10,000 trucks are expected in the next 5 years, what does this mean for the load on our grid? What solutions do we need to get our energy ecosystem for this demand and how do we integrate renewable energy while achieving viability."

Participants also examined the readiness of alternative fuel heavy-duty vehicles, grid and charging infrastructure, multimodal logistics optimisation, and the role of concessional and catalytic finance. Discussions converged on the need to create demand certainty, reduce risk for early adopters, and strengthen public-private collaboration.

Mahak Agrawal, India Lead at Riding Sunbeams, framed the stakes: "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."

The session concluded with participants agreeing to produce a briefing note capturing key findings, areas of convergence and next steps.

Riding Sunbeams is a UK-based initiative working on integrating solar power into railway traction systems, with operations in India focused on net zero rail by 2030. Purpose is a global social impact organisation working on climate, health and social justice.