India will focus on energy efficiency, boost capacity: Union power minister Manohar Lal

Greater Noida: Union power minister Manohar Lal on Saturday said India will focus on energy efficiency along with increasing generation capacity to improve energy intensity by 2030.

The minister said manufacturing in the power sector needs to pick up pace to meet the growing energy demand and production.

Speaking at the ELECRAMA conference organised by the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers' Association, Lal highlighted the need for modernising the electricity distribution segment and the role of innovation and research.


"We need to expand manufacturing in the sector as the next step, but also have new technology and innovation," he said.

The focus of the power industry should be on smart grid solutions, advanced power electronics, efficient transformers, power converters, among others, he added.

The power ministry will support electric vehicle charging infrastructure, fast chargers, and battery swapping stations to take it forward and at a faster pace, he said.

With the target of 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, the transmission system needs to be strengthened to integrate all the green energy capacity, he said.

India's current capacity of non-fossil fuel-based energy is 220 GW.

"The power sector will have to speed up as a growth engine and in the manufacturing segment," he said. "The largest- ever capacity addition in renewable energy is underway in the country."

Schneider Electric CEO Olivier Blum, who also addressed the conference, said the company's focus in India is to leverage artificial intelligence and digitisation to accelerate growth in the Indian energy sector.

"The company's purpose is advanced technologies like digital grids, IoT-enabled distributed energy resources, microgrids, smart buildings, and smart cities will reduce emissions by 75% over the next 25 years," Blum said.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure CEO Matthias Rebellius, also highlighted India's crucial inflection point, with digitalisation and clean energy adoption in the power sector.

Strategic investments in smart grids, automation, and renewable energy are accelerating progress, positioning the country as a leader in sustainable electrification, he said.