According to a study by the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, India can achieve energy independence by 2047, when it celebrates 100 years of independence.
The ‘pathways to Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ report also states that India’s energy infrastructure will require US$ 3 trillion in investments over the next several decades.
The report said that with the achievement of energy independence, economic, environmental, and energy benefits will also be generated for India which will include US$ 2.5 trillion in consumer savings through 2047.
This will also reduce the import expenditure by 90% or US$ 249 billion per year, which thereby would enhance India’s industrial competitiveness globally and enable its net-zero commitment ahead of the schedule.
According to the study, India would achieve energy independence by installing more than 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil electricity production capacity by 2030, a target that the government has already set, followed by an 80% clean grid by 2040 and a 90% clean grid by 2047.
In addition, it said that 100% of new vehicle sales should be electric by 2025. Heavy industrial production could shift primarily to green hydrogen and electrification, it said.
Additionally, the report claimed that the majority of the lithium required to produce new electric cars and grid-scale battery storage systems (estimated at 2 million tonnes by 2040) could be produced locally using recently discovered reserves. The report also said that the Indian industry must transition to clean technologies such as electric vehicles (EV) and green steel manufacturing.
