India has taken massive steps to transform their energy industry of the last few years and is on its way to being a global leader in combatting climate change, Stephen Leahy reports for National Geographic. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has implemented policies that will halt the construction of coal-fired power plants, bring LED lighting to all 1.3 billion Indians, slash carbon dioxide emissions, and bring all electric cars to India’s roads. This progressive energy agenda has been celebrated by world leaders and has reaped benefits already for India’s poor.

As Leahy reports, this transition from coal to nuclear, solar, and wind has driven the cost of electricity down, ensuring that more and more people can afford to purchase it. Solar costs just 4 cents a kW/hr, far cheaper than coal.

India hopes to make coal plants obsolete by 2022 and to have exclusively electric vehicles on their roads by 2030.

Image: The ‘blue city’ of Jodhpur, the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan | Image Credit: Marc Hoffmann/Wikimedia Commons