NITI Aayog

Cost savings associated with switching to least-cost energy solutions like wind and solar can be redeployed for economic recovery. At the same time, building resilience on fronts like energy system design and supply-chain management is crucial to deal with unexpected shocks and crises.

The industry body has recommended a series of measures including a continuation of FAME II Scheme to 2025, short-term booster incentives for consumers and support for in-house R&D to boost the electric vehicle sector. 

Given the close links between energy and economy, an impact analysis is needed to evaluate the sector and initiate suitable measures against unusual circumstances. Government policy thinktank NITI Aayog is working on a roadmap to improve energy data management system for India. The centralized energy data unit will host all demand and consumption data related to all forms of energy, which can be used by researchers, policymakers and business strategy formulators alike.

India’s energy storage juggernaut is on a roll with the country discovering the cheapest renewables cum storage tariff in history, anywhere in the world. The technology chosen is pumped storage. And by setting up an enabling environment, the government has signalled its commitment to boosting the market!

Panellists including a government representative and a member of the chief policy thinktank used by Narendra Modi agreed coal will continue as the staple source of Indian power into the mid century and technology should be employed to ‘clean’ it.

China, Hong Kong and Vietnam are the top three nations exporting batteries to India. Chinese imports were worth $773 million in the last fiscal year with Hong Kong shipping $267 million worth and Vietnam $114 million, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

A 50% fall in the price of Lithium-ion battery packs—to $76/KWh from $156/KWh today—will make the capital cost of electric vehicles lower than combustion vehicles. However, to realise the full benefits of EVs, it is important to charge them with clean power and not fossil power.

Already approved by the finance ministry, the proposal aims to woo investors into setting up manufacturing units in India and lower battery costs with indigenization of technology. An aggregate manufacturing capacity of 50 GWh is planned to be set up over a period of 10 years, which would require investments worth Rs 355 billion.

India needs to look at a diverse set of flexibility options such as natural gas capacity, variable renewables themselves, energy storage, demand-side response and power grids, to ensure successful integration of wind and and solar PV, says an International Energy Agency (IEA) report.

Apart from thrust on energy efficiency and clean energy, the new policy will focus on Make in India for cells used in electric vehicle batteries and measures for demand creation and incentivizing investments.