India must take lead in energy efficiency: Amitabh Kant

New Delhi: India needs to focus on investment and innovation in clean technologies in order to reduce import dependence and achieve the Viksit Bharat goal by 2047, the country's G20 Sherpa, Amitabh Kant, said on Friday.

Innovation and startups were key to achieving such technological goals, he said, and called for the country to take lead in energy efficiency.

"My belief is that energy efficiency and circular economy are areas where India must take the lead," Kant said at the Bharat Climate Summit. He also called upon insurance companies and pension funds to come forward and invest in clean technologies.


Opportunities & challenges

India has multiple opportunities in areas like solar equipment, battery and associated components, electric vehicle motors and electrolysers, other panellists at the summit said.

They also flagged challenges that the industry confronted.

These challenges include availability of critical minerals, energy requirements and ease of doing business that domestic manufacturing needs to foster, said Aditya Birla Group chief economist Ila Patnaik.

In domestic manufacturing, India's electric vehicles segment has seen good traction and is one of the largest captive markets in the world, according to Jon Creyts, chief executive of think-tank Rocky Mountains Institute.