India Waves Green Flag At Energy Week
THE INDIA ENERGY WEEK, which took place between 6-8 February, was the first major energy event under India’s G20 presidency to showcase India’s rising prowess as an energy transition powerhouse.
Energy transition has become an important component of energy security for India, where use of green fuels has received many incentives. With India having a first-mover advantage in the Green Hydrogen space, it now aspires to become a net energy exporter.
This is an ambitious stance for a nation that continues to depend heavily on fossil fuels like coal and crude oil as sources of energy and has had to take tough diplomatic stands for its energy security.
Through the year-long Russia-Ukraine War, India has stuck to its stand on importing Russian oil despite veiled threats of sanctions from the West. Union Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, has at various fora, taken pot shots at the West, especially Europe, for pointing fingers at India, while persisting with its own imports of Russian natural gas. “I have a population of $2,000 (per capita income). I also need energy, and I am not in a position to pay high prices for oil,” he said recently.
India’s focus on energy security was also evident at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in 2021, when through tough last-minute negotiations, India changed an important clause in the agreement from “phasing out” use of coal to “phasing down” coal for energy generation. The emphasis now on energy transition demonstrates India’s intent to move speedily toward green fuels.
