Green Economy Could Create 1.3 Crore Jobs by 2035, But India Faces a Skills Gap

India’s green economy could support more than 1.3 crore jobs by 2035, but shortages in technical education, specialised green skills and financing could constrain workforce development, according to a report released by iFOREST.

The report, “India’s Green Jobs Moment: Pathways to Build a Future-Ready Workforce”, estimates direct employment in renewable energy, green hydrogen, electric vehicle manufacturing and charging infrastructure, and formal recycling will rise from about 14.5 lakh in 2026 to 35 lakh by 2030 and more than 54 lakh by 2035.

This translates into about 4.5 lakh additional jobs a year through 2035. However, dedicated green-skilling programmes have trained about 81,000 technicians so far, with solar accounting for a share of the training.

The report identified limited access to technical education as a key gap. Only 4.5 per cent of the working-age population reported having technical education in 2025. Among working-age women, the figure was 3.1 per cent.

It recommended revising the National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015, to make green jobs a core focus and creating a National Green Jobs and Skilling Mission to implement the strategy.

Existing programmes include the National Green Hydrogen Mission and Jal Urja Mitra Skill Development Programme. The government’s PMKVY 4.0 includes green and future-skill courses, while the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme provides workplace training opportunities.

The Skills4Future EV & Green Skills programme is expanding training and green-skills laboratories, while PM-SETU is supporting the modernisation of 1,000 government ITIs through industry-aligned courses, laboratories and digital infrastructure.

Budget allocations for major Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship schemes rose to Rs 9,540.5 crore in 2026-27, from Rs 5,749.9 crore in 2025-26. The report noted that the increase was concentrated in PM-SETU, whose share rose from 52 per cent to 64 per cent, while the Skill India programme allocation increased by about 4 per cent.

The report said India needs to align training capacity with emerging green-sector demand, including through industry-linked courses, certification, reskilling and greater participation of women.