IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jintdv/v38y2026i3p437-450.html

Impacts of Digital Innovation, Economic Development and Agricultural Land on India's Renewable Energy Transition and Sustainable Development

Author

Listed:
  • Muneeb Sagheer
  • Asif Raihan

Abstract

India's transformation to a future with more sustainable energy is essential for meeting rising energy demands and addressing environmental challenges. Prioritizing deployment of renewable energy can decrease fossil fuel dependence and enhance energy security. This research explores the effects of economic growth, information and communication technology (ICT) development, CO2 emissions and agricultural land expansion on renewable energy consumption in India from 1990 to 2023 by using World Bank data. Dynamics ordinary least‐squares regression (DOLS), Fully modified Ordinary Least Squared (FMOLS) and Canonical Cointegration Regression (CCR) are the three advanced cointegration approaches used in this work. The findings demonstrate that ICT development significantly encourages the utilization of renewable energy, while economic expansion, agricultural land expansion and CO2 emissions hinder integration. These findings suggest that India can accelerate its renewable energy transition by making investments in digital innovation and ICT infrastructure, while simultaneously adopting sustainable land‐use strategies and effective carbon management policies to reduce environmental pressures and balance economic growth with sustainability goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Muneeb Sagheer & Asif Raihan, 2026. "Impacts of Digital Innovation, Economic Development and Agricultural Land on India's Renewable Energy Transition and Sustainable Development," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 437-450, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:38:y:2026:i:3:p:437-450
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.70068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.70068
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/jid.70068?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter C.B. Phillips & Sam Ouliaris & Joon Y. Park, 1988. "Testing for a Unit Root in the Presence of a Maintained Trend," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 880, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    2. Chang, Lei & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Saydaliev, Hayot Berk, 2022. "How do ICT and renewable energy impact sustainable development?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 123-131.
    3. Azam, Anam & Rafiq, Muhammad & Shafique, Muhammad & Zhang, Haonan & Yuan, Jiahai, 2021. "Analyzing the effect of natural gas, nuclear energy and renewable energy on GDP and carbon emissions: A multi-variate panel data analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    4. Daniela Nicoleta Sahlian & Adriana Florina Popa & Raluca Florentina Creţu, 2021. "Does the Increase in Renewable Energy Influence GDP Growth? An EU-28 Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-16, August.
    5. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Chen, Mei-Ping & Yuan, Zihao, 2023. "Is information and communication technology a driver for renewable energy?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    6. Neesham-McTiernan, Talitha H. & Randle-Boggis, Richard J. & Buckley, Alastair R. & Hartley, Sue E., 2025. "The spatial potential for agrivoltaics to address energy-agriculture land use conflicts in Great Britain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 385(C).
    7. Grossman, G.M & Krueger, A.B., 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," Papers 158, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    8. Zheng, Jiajia & Wang, Xingwu, 2021. "Can mobile information communication technologies (ICTs) promote the development of renewables?-evidence from seven countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    9. Christiana Onakpojeruo & Mehdi Seraj & Huseyin Ozdeser, 2025. "The impacts of gross domestic product and non-renewable energy on CO2 emissions in India," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-20, January.
    10. Mirza, Faisal Mehmood & Sinha, Avik & Khan, Javeria Rehman & Kalugina, Olga A. & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif, 2022. "Impact of Energy Efficiency on CO2 Emissions: Empirical Evidence from Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 111923, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2022.
    11. Lee, Chien-Chiang & He, Zhi-Wen & Xiao, Fu, 2022. "How does information and communication technology affect renewable energy technology innovation? International evidence," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 546-557.
    12. Lv, Zhike & Liu, Wangxin & Xu, Ting, 2022. "Evaluating the impact of information and communication technology on renewable energy consumption: A spatial econometric approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 1-12.
    13. Stock, James H & Watson, Mark W, 1993. "A Simple Estimator of Cointegrating Vectors in Higher Order Integrated Systems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(4), pages 783-820, July.
    14. Behera, Puspanjali & Sethi, Narayan & Dash, Devi Prasad & Usman, Muhammad & Sahu, Pritish Kumar, 2025. "Pathways to achieve carbon neutrality in emerging economies: Catalyzing the role of renewable energy, green growth, ICT, and political risk," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    15. Chen, Jingping & Zhao, Chunzi & Liu, Shuang & Li, Yuchen, 2025. "How do digitalizing ICT and supply chain globalization affect renewable energy in ASEAN nations? The mediating role of sustainable environmental practices using the MMQR and PCSEs model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yi, Jiahui & Dai, Sheng & Li, Lin & Cheng, Jinhua, 2024. "How does digital economy development affect renewable energy innovation?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    2. Fambeu, Ariel Herbert & Yomi, Patricia Tchawa, 2024. "Do ICTs promote the renewable energy consumption? The moderating effects of economic growth and structural transformation in Africa," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    3. Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Abraham Ayobamiji Awosusi & Seun Damola Oladipupo & Ephraim Bonah Agyekum & Arunkumar Jayakumar & Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar, 2021. "Dominance of Fossil Fuels in Japan’s National Energy Mix and Implications for Environmental Sustainability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Ding, Qian & Huang, Jianbai & Chen, Jinyu & Tao, Dali, 2023. "Internet development and renewable energy technological innovation: Does institutional quality matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    5. Alsagr, Naif & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2024. "How do energy security risk and ICT affect green investment?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1044-1055.
    6. Çamkaya, Serhat & Kaya, Yunus & Karabayir, Mehmet Emin, 2025. "Do renewable and nuclear R&D expenditures affect environmental quality in France? An assessment from the perspective of the LCC hypothesis and SDGs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    7. Manga, Muge & Cengiz, Orhan & Destek, Mehmet Akif, 2022. "Is export quality a viable option for sustainable development paths of Asian countries?," MPRA Paper 117552, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Lau, Chi Keung & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Rather, Kashif Nesar & Gozgor, Giray, 2023. "The impact of green quality of the energy consumption on carbon emissions in the United States," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 850-860.
    9. Zhao, Dengfeng & Lin, Jingting & Bashir, Muhammad Adnan, 2024. "Analyze the effect of energy efficiency, natural resources, and the digital economy on ecological footprint in OCED countries: The mediating role of renewable energy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    10. Li, Wei & Cao, Ning & Xiang, Zejia, 2023. "Drivers of renewable energy transition: The role of ICT, human development, financialization, and R&D investment in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 441-450.
    11. Kizito Uyi Ehigiamusoe & Suresh Ramakrishnan & Abdul Rahim Ridzuan & Naila Erum & Daouia Chebab, 2025. "The Impact of ICT on Energy Consumption: Investigating the Roles of ICT Dimensions, Economic Development, and Energy Sources Across Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(2), pages 9018-9044, June.
    12. Nan, Shijing & Huo, Yuchen & Lee, Chien-Chiang, 2023. "Assessing the role of globalization on renewable energy consumption: New evidence from a spatial econometric analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    13. Fabian Knorre & Martin Wagner & Maximilian Grupe, 2021. "Monitoring Cointegrating Polynomial Regressions: Theory and Application to the Environmental Kuznets Curves for Carbon and Sulfur Dioxide Emissions," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-35, March.
    14. Mustafa Naimoğlu & Serkan Şahin & Sefa Özbek, 2025. "Governance, Corruption, Trade Openness, and Innovation: Key Drivers of Green Growth and Sustainable Development in Türkiye," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 4147-4162, June.
    15. Zheng, Mingbo & Zhang, Xinyu, 2025. "Digitalization and renewable energy development: Analysis based on cross-country panel data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    16. Raihan, Asif & Ridwan, Mohammad & Rahman, Syed Masiur & Sarker, Tapan & Atasoy, Filiz Guneysu & Islam, Samanta & Kakon, Mifthaul Arefine & Akter, Runa, 2025. "Balancing growth and sustainability: The role of women's empowerment, innovation, and green transitions," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(6).
    17. Manal Elhaj & Jihen Bousrih & Hind Alofaysan, 2024. "Can Technological Advancement Empower the Future of Renewable Energy? A Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-18, October.
    18. LIU Xiangling & Md Qamruzzaman, 2024. "The role of ICT investment, digital financial inclusion, and environmental tax in promoting sustainable energy development in the MENA region: Evidences with Dynamic Common Correlated Effects (DCE) and instrumental variable-adjusted DCE," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(5), pages 1-30, May.
    19. Jobert, Thomas & Karanfil, Fatih & Tykhonenko, Anna, 2013. "On the structure and form of the GDP–nuclear nexus: New perspectives and new findings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1553-1561.
    20. Udemba, Edmund Ntom & Tosun, Merve, 2022. "Moderating effect of institutional policies on energy and technology towards a better environment quality: A two dimensional approach to China's sustainable development," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:38:y:2026:i:3:p:437-450. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5102/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.