UPSC 2022 GS-III · 15 marks · 250 words

Do you think India will meet 50 percent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2030? Justify your answer. How will the shift of subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables help achieve the above objective? Discuss.

What “Justify” demands

argue positively for the stated position with evidence, and meet the obvious objection.

The characteristic failure: presenting both sides neutrally when a defence was asked for.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

Precision first: Panchamrit pledges 50% of installed CAPACITY non-fossil — capacity ≠ energy; generation still ~70% coal
Trajectory: non-fossil capacity approaching half; 500 GW 2030 target, but storage economics, discom finances, land and grid integration constrain energy share
Subsidy shift: fossil support still outweighs RE (IISD); redirection to storage tenders, PM-KUSUM, rooftop (PM Surya Ghar) buys the intermittency solution
Verdict: capacity pledge achievable, energy-share reading unlikely by 2030 — say so and show why

The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.

Now write it, and find out what you actually scored

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Do you think India will meet 50 percent of its energy needs from renewable energy by 2030? Justify your answer. How will the shift of subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables help achieve the above objective? Discuss.

What a top answer must contain

Now write it, and find out what you actually scored

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