Hyderabad, 12 September 2024 — The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) reaffirmed its support for India’s efforts toward its climate and net-zero development goals by showcasing 18 innovative climate-tech solutions to the industry at the Energy Efficiency Summit 2024, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) from 10 to 12 September 2024. These adoption-ready industry solutions have been validated under UNIDO’s Facility for Low Carbon Technology Deployment (FLCTD), supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). They have undergone rigorous field trials in multiple operating environments, proving their effectiveness.

Launched in 2016 by UNIDO, the GEF and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) of the Government of India, FLCTD accelerates innovations in energy efficiency. The project aims to unlock India’s innovation and entrepreneurial capabilities to identify innovative technology solutions with the potential to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

“The Summit is a great opportunity for UNIDO, small businesses and large industries to meet, interact and understand solutions for energy efficiency,” said Gerswynn Mckuur, Industrial Development Officer. “Through FLCTD, we showcased some of the startups that have now commercialized their ideas and introduced them to the industry, which is ultimately their client. We also demonstrated to the industry what is possible with innovation.”

FLCTD provides capacity building to innovators on aspects of technology development and commercialization as well as financial support for conducting field trials in various real-life conditions. This helps reduce risks associated with emerging climate technologies and accelerates their faster adoption. In addition to identifying specific high-potential low-carbon technology innovations and nurturing their deployment, verification and commercialization, FLCTD strengthens climate-focused technology transfer ecosystem in India by working directly with knowledge-based institutions.

Since its inception, FLCTD has implemented six annual innovation challenges and selected 88 winning innovations for scale-up and commercialization. So far, the project has committed INR 30.6 crores (USD 3.8 million) to the winners towards business mentoring and technology validation. The validation of various winning innovative technologies was carried out at more than 210 industrial site locations across India. Thus far, 43 technologies have been validated, and 33 technologies got commercialized. Additionally, 67 climate-tech startups received mentoring support through the low-carbon Accelerator programme, including 17 women-led start-ups.

The technical, financial and business mentoring support provided by FLCTD has resulted in significant development of the emerging climate-tech solutions. Out of the 140 portfolio innovations, 43 technologies validated in different real-life field conditions, and 30 innovations are commercially available as industry decarbonizing products and solutions. It is estimated that even a one per cent market adoption of these technologies can reduce 3.8 million tons of GHG emissions annually.

Reflecting on the Summit outcomes for the project, Gerswynn Mckuur added: “Typically, the industry is more interested in well-established technologies, but here we have introduced them to exciting, new and creative solutions for energy efficiency. Many startups have already reported that industry players approached them, and possible deals are in the works because of this interaction. FLCTD, in collaboration with CII and BEE, has created this valuable opportunity for the entire ecosystem to meet, understand what each can offer to the others, and contribute to the energy savings we want to achieve in India and beyond.”

As part of the Summit, CII awarded UNIDO’s FLCTD Project as the "High-Impact Program for Energy Efficiency" of 2024 as part of its National Award for Excellence in Energy Management.

UNIDO promotes inclusive and sustainable industrial development (ISID) to assist industries of developing countries and economies in transition. In India, UNIDO has extensively cooperated with government agencies to develop policies and institutional frameworks to support entrepreneurship development and has strong partnerships with various industrial and enterprise associations. UNIDO’s programmatic focus over the next few years in India includes a Key Result Area dedicated to ‘Sustainable and decarbonized manufacturing’. This KRA prioritizes the identification, development, and adoption of solutions (products, techniques, or services) that facilitate the decoupling of manufacturing sector growth from increased use of natural resources and environmental impacts.

For further information, please contact:

Gerswynn McKuur,

Industrial Development Officer

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