(Credit: Canva Pro)Earlier this week, India's Power Secretary Alok Kumar highlighted the importance of local manufacturing to meet the country's goal of achieving 90% renewable energy by 2047. The country currently relies heavily on coal, which accounts for 70% of its electricity output.
“The challenge is huge and if we don’t succeed in promoting local manufacturing, India’s energy transition will be very, very, difficult,” Alok Kumar said on the sidelines of a G-20 energy meeting on Monday, according to The Economic Times.
To meet global climate commitments, the country needs to deploy clean power plants at a faster rate. The challenge is immense, and failure to promote local manufacturing could make the energy transition very difficult.
The Indian government plans to increase clean energy to 50% by 2030 and achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2047. This requires domestic manufacturing of green technologies such as solar modules, battery storage, and electrolyzers for making green hydrogen.
To support domestic production, the government is providing incentives for green components to meet both domestic and export demand. Challenging China's current dominance in the sector.
In recent years, India has rapidly increased its renewable energy capacity and is now the fourth-largest producer of hydro, wind, and solar power. However, the country is also the world's third-largest greenhouse gas emitter and faces significant challenges in achieving its ambitious clean energy targets while balancing development for its 1.4 billion population.
To cut emissions by 45% from 2005 levels, the country will issue tenders for the installation of 250 GW of green energy capacity by March 2028. Additionally, India is exploring the possibility of acquiring critical mineral assets, such as lithium, from abroad and is also exploring its own newly found mineral reserve in Jammu and Kashmir.
