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Emphasising the need to reduce India's vulnerability to external energy shocks, MD Kotak Mutual Fund and member PM's economic advisory committee, Nilesh Shah, has called for accelerated electrification and a stronger push towards nuclear energy to cut dependence on imports.
Speaking in an interview with ANI, Shah said that while India's resilience has improved compared to past crises, energy imports remain a critical risk. "We are still dependent upon energy import. Availability of supply is very, very important," he noted, referring to ongoing geopolitical tensions impacting oil markets. He stressed that electrification across sectors is key to long-term energy security. "We have to focus on the electrification of India... Can we do that for the rest of the economy? Replace petrol-diesel car with electric and hybrid?" he said, adding that building domestic supply chains for batteries and reducing reliance on foreign rare earths would be essential. Highlighting structural shifts already underway, Shah pointed out that Indian Railways' transition away from diesel to electricity offers a model. "Even if diesel imports drop to zero, our railways will continue to work because it's run on electricity," he said. On future energy sources, Shah underlined the importance of nuclear power. "Nuclear will be one way. We have created fast breeder reactor... and the third stage will be thorium-based reactor. We have 25% of global thorium supply," he said, suggesting India has a natural advantage in scaling nuclear capacity. He also called for better utilisation of domestic resources, including coal and solar energy. "If we start mining and producing electricity, that will be good," he said, while adding that rooftop solar could significantly expand capacity. "Today, there are 30 lakh houses... tomorrow, there could be 3 crore." Shah argued that a diversified energy strategy would help India withstand future crises more effectively. "By putting our resources into electrification... we'll be able to reduce energy dependency," he said. He added that such measures are crucial to ensuring that future global disruptions do not translate into domestic economic instability. (ANI)
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