Niti Aayog says govt working on energy policy for India

New Delhi: RP Gupta, Additional Secretary (Energy), NITI Aayog, said on Tuesday that the government is in the process of finalising an energy policy for the country. Speaking at the conference on 'Energy Storage: Driving Demand and Investments,' organised by FICCI, Gupta said that the new policy will address the issues of accessibility and affordability, energy security, thrust on clean source energy and the overall requirement of energy in India.

Highlighting the potential of energy storage in India, Gupta said that we are also focusing on 'Make in India' for cells used in battery in electric vehicles along with policy for demand creation and measures to incentivise investments. "Hopefully, in a short period of time, a new policy will come in place to encourage domestic manufacturers," he added. Gupta said that energy efficiency is one of the priority areas which the government is focusing on. "What we have estimated is that if we come out with proper policies and solutions for energy efficiency then the total energy requirement can be reduced by 20 percent," he said.

'Need to make energy storage elements in India'

Manish Sharma, Co-chair, FICCI Energy Storage Committee and CEO, Panasonic India & South Asia, said, "With the country's focus on renewable energy and electric mobility, energy storage solutions are set to play a crucial role in scripting the sector's success. India leads the global electricity market with almost 6 percent of the total electricity demand. We will account for 8 percent of the global electricity generation by 2025. Given the increasing demand and competitiveness of renewable power generation options, electricity storage will play a crucial role in enabling the next phase of the energy transition. Hence, it is important to build an ecosystem which promotes battery manufacturing in the country."

Manoj Kohli, Chairman, FICCI Renewable Energy CEOs Council and Executive Chairman, SB Energy, said, "The cost of electric vehicles will come down only when the cost of storage battery is reduced." He further added that in the next decade there is going to be a massive energy transition in India.