Bhopal, Dec 10: Madhya Pradesh needs to mobilise far greater levels of climate finance to cope with rising climate stress and to meet its long-term development goals, senior officials and experts said at a state-level convening on Wednesday.
The state, home to some of India’s most climate-vulnerable districts, is already experiencing increasingly erratic rainfall and recurring droughts. Its updated State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) identifies eight districts, including Singrauli, Jhabua and Barwani, as most vulnerable, and a further 17 as highly vulnerable.
The state estimates it will require about ₹97,000 crore ($11.6 billion) for adaptation and mitigation measures, a funding requirement that far exceeds what public budgets alone can support. Officials at the meeting said private capital, blended finance and international climate funds will be crucial to narrowing the gap.
The convening, Mobilizing Climate Finance for Resilient Growth in Madhya Pradesh, was organised by WRI India in partnership with the Environmental Planning & Coordination Organisation (EPCO), the state Environment Department and the Climate Policy Initiative.
“Climate finance is now one of the most critical enablers of climate action for states like Madhya Pradesh, which faces rising climate risks even as it pursues a GSDP of Rs 250 lakh crore by 2047,” said Ashok Barnwal, Additional Chief Secretary of the Environment Department, in a keynote address. He said departments must integrate climate finance into their budgeting and develop “bankable, policy-enabled projects” to attract investment. Mission LiFE could play an important catalytic role, he added.
Deepak Arya, Executive Director of EPCO, said the state must look beyond traditional funding channels. “Public budgets alone cannot bridge this gap, making it essential to mobilise private investment, blended finance, carbon markets and multilateral climate funds,” he said. EPCO, he added, would support departments and partners in designing viable projects to tap such finance.
Participants discussed financing opportunities in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, forestry, resilient infrastructure and urban planning. They highlighted the need for stronger institutional capacity and better access to international and domestic climate finance mechanisms.
Neha Misra, Program Lead for Climate Finance at WRI India, said mobilising capital from public, private and blended sources is essential for achieving the state’s Samriddh Madhya Pradesh@2047 vision. “Effective climate interventions require the right capital, strong project capacities and robust policy support,” she said.
Lokendra Thakkar, who leads the Climate Change Knowledge Management Centre at EPCO, said the organisation has already tapped funds under national climate missions and international programmes, and will continue working with departments to prepare bankable proposals aligned with the state’s long-term low-carbon strategy.
Strengthening sub-national climate finance is especially important because states are responsible for implementation, said Saransh Bajpai, Associate Program Director at WRI India. Madhya Pradesh, he noted, faces both elevated climate risks and significant opportunities, given its contributions to India’s crop production and its status as the state with the highest forest and tree cover.
Technical discussions during the event focused on underutilised finance streams and the need for coherent, actionable strategies to steer Madhya Pradesh toward climate-resilient, low-carbon growth. The meeting concluded with a call for developing a comprehensive State Climate Finance Strategy.
