With the US, China, and European Union, each having made announcements — though sometimes only indicative — on their emission reduction plans, there has been speculation that India would make an announcement of its plans for addressing climate change in Lima. The plans or efforts to tackle climate change, known in UN negotiations parlance as INDC, will have to be formulated by each country by taking in their domestic circumstances and goals. "These contributions will be comprehensive climate action that India will say it will undertake.

It can't be worked out in a hurry," Kumar said. All countries were supposed to submit their INDCs by March next year, well ahead of the Paris summit in December. India argues that a March deadline would not be easy to meet, especially as there is no clarity on what constitutes an INDC. "Without a template and a decision on what comprises INDCs it is difficult to finalise these.

But we have begun the exercise based on a rudimentary template we have created and will include all the pillars. I suspect many countries, developing and even developed, will not be able to meet the March target for INDCs," Kumar said. Environment minister Prakash Javadekar, in a predeparture interaction in New Delhi, told reporters, "INDCs would be addressed in the context of enhanced actions and would include all the issues. It would cover not just the missions but also other initiatives under the national action plan, and the state action plans."

An indication that New Delhi is likely to go beyond the initiatives that have already been identified. "The national action plan, for example, only deals with solar energy. But renewal is not just solar, there is wind, biomass, so there is scope for greater action," Kumar said, stressing that India will take "comprehensive action".

New Delhi has already kicked off the exercise of working out its plan, even though it said there is no agreement among countries on whether the contributions should focus only on emission reductions or would include efforts to adapt to climate change, finance, technology transfer and capacity building. India has stressed that the contributions, which form the core of the new global compact to be finalised in Paris next year, should be balanced and include all the five aspects or pillars of addressing climate change.

As part of its preparations, New Delhi has commissioned The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) and the Institute of Economic Growth to chart out India's growth path, the emission intensity trajectory and emissions projection. "Instead of restricting the study to 2020 we have asked that the experts take a view up to 2050," Kumar said. The first instalment of the report is due in January.

The low carbon report prepared by Kirit Parekh as the head of a Planning Commission-appointed expert group is also being analysed. The environment ministry, which is the nodal point for dealing with climate change, has asked other ministries and organisations to assess the climate-related and relevant action, and identify initiatives that will be undertaken.