What happens when people stop waiting for the grid — and build their own energy transition instead?

In this episode of Sustainability Forward, Wrishi and Carmine travel across India and Pakistan to unpack one of the most dynamic – and least understood – clean energy stories in the world.

Wrishi draws on childhood memories of Indian power cuts and today’s giant solar parks to explain how India became a renewables heavyweight: ambitious national targets, ultra-cheap solar auctions, and state-level champions like Gujarat and Rajasthan. At the same time, coal still acts as India’s safety blanket, revealing the tensions at the heart of its energy politics.

Then the focus shifts to Pakistan, where the official numbers say renewables are tiny – but rooftops tell a very different story. We explore:

• The silent rooftop solar boom reshaping homes, factories and farms

• How cheap panels and batteries are changing daily life under chronic load-shedding

• The hidden risks around grid finances, groundwater, and energy inequality

• What “getting it right” could look like over the next decade

Two countries under the same sun, facing different constraints, making different mistakes – and offering powerful lessons for the global energy transition.

🎧 Listen in if you care about climate, development, or just want to understand what the energy transition really feels like on the ground.