India offers $500 billion investment opportunity in clean energy, time to tap skilled youth

As India begins its ambitious journey towards achieving the target of net zero by 2070, the energy transition efforts in the country offer an immense $500 billion investment opportunity to businesses, billion, especially in the green energy value chain including renewables and electric vehicles (EV), the government said on Monday.

Sunil Barthwal, Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said the country is currently producing 21 million cars every year.

“Although, in terms of percentage, the EV manufacturing may not look very large at the moment, but if you look at 1.6 million EVs, it requires a whole ecosystem of manufacturing batteries and the charging ecosystem etc,” he said during the India Energy Storage Week (IESW) organised by industry body India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA) here.

Barthwal said this is one great opportunity which India is offering to investors from all over the world to come and invest in the clean energy value chain.

“The government as a policy maker is trying to create an ecosystem, whereby investments can be encouraged. There is not less than a $500 billion potential investment opportunity that exists in the clean energy ecosystem,” Barthwal added.

The Commerce Ministry Secretary said it is the time for businesses to apply their minds and use the skilled youth in the country in R&D, manufacturing and creating a world which is net zero, carbon emission free after a point of time.

At the event, Vikram Gulati, country head and Executive VP (corporate affairs and governance) Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said that by 2037, we are set to become a $35 trillion economy if it keeps growing at 7 per cent.

“This may seem great but what it also means is that there will be a huge demand for transportation, mobility road transportation etc. 

We're going to see something like 4 times the energy requirement just for cars from today to perhaps 2030,” he said.

The government has done a tremendous job in terms of looking at the supply side, looking at the demand side, and going to the components level to be able to create an ecosystem in the country that enables us to shift to a sustainable future rapidly.

“It's time for other stakeholders to also step up. It's also time for us from the industry to make that shift happen,” said Gulati.