According to a report from a research institute, India, the fifth-largest economy in the world, can achieve energy independence through clean technology by 2047. Thus, the report highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, which ranges from a massive increase in renewable capacity to electric mobility, saving billions of dollars in imports.
In a report titled “Pathways to Atmanirbhar Bharat,” the India Energy and Climate Center (IECC) at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a federally funded research and development facility, highlight the steps India has taken to adopt clean energy.
India depends on imports for 80–85 percent of its oil and coal needs. India’s foreign exchange reserves are under pressure due to the price and supply instability in the global energy markets that has been observed recently, which causes inflation throughout the whole economy.
Energy independence, according to the report, entails investments in renewable energy, electric vehicles, and green hydrogen, which is produced by combining solar and wind energy to produce electricity.
Thus, it will help us move away from coal-based generation and toward the use of electricity-charged batteries, which will eventually reduce our dependence on liquid fuels like gasoline and diesel. Indian industry will become carbon-neutral thanks to zero-carbon hydrogen, reducing emissions and relying less on imported fuel.