India keen on investing in strategic energy storage, Hydrogen to drive economy’s revival: FM

• Sitharaman said that infrastructure and agriculture and related activities are the other two sectors where the Centre has prioritised investments

• Sustainable revival is going to happen between Q3 and Q4, the minister said

New Delhi: (Economy news) While asserting that energy is one of the key sectors that India is looking to invest in to fuel the economy's revival, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India is keen on investing in strategic energy storage, Hydrogen, battery and fintech. Speaking at the 4th India Energy Forum CERAWeek through video conference on Tuesday, Sitharaman said that infrastructure and agriculture and related activities are the other two sectors where the Centre has prioritised investments.

"One of the first things which we have prioritised during our recent announcements is investment on building infrastructure. Public spending on infrastructure both by the Union government and the states will drive the revival. In addition, funds are also going to be coming through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In a document that was released much before the pandemic hit us on December 31, 2019, we had listed 6,000 infrastructure projects, both greenfield and brownfield. So, the plan for infrastructure is ready and laid out before us. And we are attracting a lot of funds," said the minister.

"The second priority area for the government would be making sure that agriculture and the related activities, like export of agricultural goods, is ensured through timely connectivity. And the third priority area would be investing in energy. The content of the Indian energy basket is also getting diversified. We are targeting 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022 and we are investing in that. We are also going to be investing in strategic energy storage, Hydrogen and battery and fintech," said Sitharaman.

'Negative or zero growth in current fiscal'

While noting that there was a sharp contraction in growth in Q1 because of a firm nationwide lockdown, the minister said that growth has picked up as the economy has unlocked steadily but the GDP growth is expected to be in negative zone or around zero in this fiscal year. "But we are able to see the revival now, particularly in the PMI, which has soared to its highest since 2012, which indicates that revival is there and it is going to be steady and sustainable. In fact, sustainable revival is going to happen between Q3 and Q4," said Sitharaman. 

"Indicators show that the primary sectors and related sectors, like agriculture in rural India, are all doing very well. As a result, the demand for durable goods, agricultural equipment like tractors, and vehicles, are all going up. And the festival season has commenced in India, as a result of which I expect demand to go up," said the minister.

FDI inflow grew by 13% y-o-y in April-August: Sitharaman 

"FDI inflow inflow grew by 13 percent in April-August 2020 in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. All the FDI has been directed towards companies that have established global standards. Globally, India has one of the lowest corporate taxes," said Sitharaman.

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Elaborating on the steps taken by the Centre to boost FDI, Sitharaman said that new mechanisms like helpdesks, which will see investors at the airport and leave them at the airport and will facilitate everything in between have been set up.  

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