India has the potential to become a major global player in the renewable energy equipment supply chain, according to commerce minister Piyush Goyal.
In a speech to the Confederation of Indian Industry’s renewable energy conference, Goyal said India should seek to lead the world rather than being dependent on other countries when it comes to renewable technology.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic had shown India the importance of becoming self-reliant in renewable technologies.
In a remark apparently aimed at China, he urged India not to allow its “northern neighbour” to poach business from it, as the country had allowed China to do with its pharmaceutical industry.
“We should not allow a situation like that to happen in our renewable energy sector and maintain the entire supply chain in India to the best of our ability,” he said.
Using a phrase coined by prime minister Narendra Modi that refers to self-reliance, he said India should become “atmanirbhar” in renewable energy.
He underlined the country’s ambitions to achieve 500GW renewable energy generation by 2030.
This target would give India sufficient market size to encourage investors and manufacturers to set up manufacturing facilities in India.
Goyal also said the government’s push towards renewable energy would help the industry achieve economies of scale and a competitive edge.
He said India needed renewable energy to reduce dependence on products such as oil and coking coal.
“Prices of these products have been prone to the geopolitical uncertainties that the world has faced. We have seen how commodity prices have seen huge swings many times in the past,” he said.
Goyal said energy security needed to be seen as an integral part of national security.
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