India needs low-cost capital to fuel green energy projects: Amitabh Kant

India needs low-cost capital to help domestic entrepreneurs execute global scale projects in areas like green hydrogen, solar energy, electric vehicles and battery manufacturing, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said on Friday, adding that there is a need to build a sustainable country.




Addressing a virtual event organised by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), Kant further said India is in a very unique position in hydrogen and it should be moving towards green hydrogen in the oil refining and fertiliser sectors.

“We need to build a sustainable India…India needs only low cost capital to fuel the Indian green entrepreneur to execute global scale projects in green hydrogen, solar, EV and battery etc, ” he said.

Kant noted that the government has pushed for green energy and India is the fourth largest in the world in renewable energy installed capacity.

Talking about climate change, he said as far as the net-zero emission target is concerned, the developed world has given itself more than 40 years, and 7 years for transition.

“So, we can talk about net-zero (emission target), but definitely it can’t be 2050. It has to be some year in the future at which many, many models are being looked at but something which will be politically decided.

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“But we need to look at various models through which we will arrive at the best possible solution for that,” he said.

Net-zero means balancing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the environment by removing an equivalent volume. This may be achieved by various modes, including restoring forests or through direct air capture and storage (DACS) technology.

A very active campaign has been going on for the last two years to get every country to sign on to a net-zero goal for 2050.

Also speaking at the event, former deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement targets on climate change.

“India will be among the most effected due to global warming,” Ahluwalia said, adding that climate justice suggests that developed countries should reach the targets earlier, allowing the developing nations more time.

He pointed out that India’s per capita energy use is one-third of the global average but the country is the 4th largest emitter, so it will face pressure to accept some trajectory of emission reduction.

Ahluwalia stressed on the need to switch from fossil fuel to electricity wherever possible but added that some use of fossil fuel is likely to continue through 2050.

Noting that financial condition of India’s discoms (power distribution firms) has to be greatly improved to encourage private sector investment, he suggested for privatisation of discoms to reduce possibility of political interference.

Ahluwalia also cautioned that rising use of bio-fuels could impact food security.