Apple puts $10.6m behind clean energy in India
Apple’s commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen means it has announced a $10 million investment in clean energy in India, where it is on target to produce around half of all the iPhones sold globally. The company also announced a range of additional environmental initiatives.
Give me more energy
The company confirmed a new partnership with renewable energy developer CleanMax to support the development of new renewable energy capacity across the country.
Apple’s initial investment of INR 100 crore (c.$10.6 million) will support the development of over 150 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity, enough to power an average 150,000 Indian households each year, with opportunity to further expand in the coming years.
Apple previously worked with CleanMax on a portfolio of rooftop solar projects to help power Apple’s offices and retail stores in India with 100 percent renewable energy. The partnership aims to advance Apple’s efforts to scale renewable energy across its supply chain in India.
Working with WWF
To try to prevent plastic leakage into surrounding ecosystems, Apple is supporting recycling and waste management initiatives with WWF-India. This builds on WWF-India’s collaboration with waste-management pioneer Saahas Zero Waste in Goa, which can collect, sort, and recover recyclable materials with full traceability.
With Apple’s support, WWF-India is now expanding this system-strengthening approach to new regions, including in Coimbatore, in close collaboration with local authorities, communities, and waste workers. “By strengthening local infrastructure and governance, the initiative supports a circular waste system that enables responsible material recovery at scale,” the company said.
Fostering Green entrepreneurs
Apple is also supporting early-stage green entrepreneurs through a new partnership with Acumen, providing catalytic grants to six green enterprises developing solutions across waste management, circular economy and consumption, and regenerative agriculture and livelihoods. The program provides mentorship, strategic guidance, technical assistance, and network access to help social entrepreneurs validate promising business models and put them on a path to scale.
Apple has previously supported Acumen’s Energy for Livelihoods Accelerator for social enterprises focused on clean energy innovation. This has yielded efforts such as from Saptkrishi, which helps small farmers reduce crop losses with its low-cost storage solution, or Mowo Fleet, which empowers women to become EV drivers and entrepreneurs.
What Apple said
“At Apple, our commitment to the environment is also a driving force for innovation, across the company and around the world,” said Sarah Chandler, Apple’s vice president of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation. “We’re proud to expand our efforts to invest in India’s clean energy economy and protect the country’s precious natural resources.”
These latest projects follow publication last month of Apple’s Environmental Progress Report, which shows Apple has reduced global greenhouse gas emissions by over 60% compared to 2015 levels, even as revenue climbed 78% at the same time.
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