11 DEC – Clean energy is critical; important for India to get into cutting edge technology: Amitabh Kant

New Delhi: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Wednesday said clean energy is critical for India and it is important for the country to get into cutting-edge technology. Addressing a virtual book launch event organised by the Observer Research Foundation, Kant said India in the long run must become a manufacturer of solar products in India.

“Clean energy, powered by clean technology, is critical for India. We need to get into a whole range of clean energy deployments… It is very important for India to get into cutting-edge technology,” he said.

Noting that clean technologies are becoming darling of investors, Kant said the solar industry should not only look at manufacturing for India but also for the rest of the world. “Indian start-ups and entrepreneurs must get into new areas of growth,” he noted.

Kant added that the government has announced production-linked incentive (PLI) for automobile and solar energy sectors to make the country a manufacturing base of auto components and solar photovoltaic cells.

The Niti Aayog CEO also noted that power distribution companies (discoms) need to be reformed and the government has also announced that all Union territories’ (UT) discoms will get privatised.

“You need efficiency in discoms, you need to ensure theft in the power sector comes to zero level,” he said. Noting that the world would demand low-carbon products, Kant said, “Therefore, we have to move towards low-carbon industrialisation.”

He said that in the next 2-3 decades, as the cost of battery falls, even the initial cost of ownership of electric vehicles will be cheaper than the combustion ones. “And, therefore, this huge revolution of electric mobility is inevitable,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, ReNew Power Chairman and Managing Director Sumant Sinha said the government has taken steps to protect the renewable energy sector. Sinha, however, noted that the PLI scheme by itself is great, but a long-term roadmap for things like customs duty is required.

ETEW