<p>Countries undergoing traditional transformations witness economic prosperity before undergoing an energy transition. However, this trajectory looks much different for emerging markets and developing economies like India, where multiple energy transitions are occurring simultaneously with rapid economic growth. Emerging markets are key to the global energy transition and the locomotives for global growth. If they do not shift, or “leapfrog”, to clean energy sources, there will be no global energy transition. As an example of the transitions underway in emerging markets and developing economies worldwide, this paper discusses India’s four central energy transitions—traditional to modern energy sources, rapid urbanization, growth of sustainable energy infrastructure, and deeper integration into global energy markets—which impact the sustainable development goals. This paper then delves into the challenges associated with the energy transition for emerging markets like India. Financing for clean energy continues to be a high cost for emerging markets; clean energy supply chains are highly concentrated, impacting materials, minerals and intermediate and finished products; and new markets for the fuels of the future are limited by a lack of common standards across jurisdictions. For the rapid growth of renewables in the decade of leapfrog, the more structural problems in the energy transition must be resolved through innovative solutions and international cooperation.</p> Graphic abstract <p></p>