NITI Aayog works out road map to meet India's rising energy demand

To meet increasing energy demand as India aspires to be a developed nation, the NITI Aayog is working out a road map till 2070 to reduce emission and increase the penetration of clean energy across various sectors, including mobility, agriculture, industry, cooking, and power, according to three senior government officials.

- PUJA DAS & DHRUVAKSH SAHA

This initiative arises from India's need for a pathway to identify data trajectories in its net-zero exercise.

"It is essential to integrate renewable and fossil-fuel energy into the system," one of the officials said.

In anticipation of the latest projections, the NITI Aayog is monitoring these changing trends. As energy demand is projected to increase three to four times, meeting this in a sustainable manner, primarily through clean energy, is a priority, the official added.

In doing so, the Aayog is redesigning its India Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) model, which assesses the comprehensive impact of green-energy policies, extending the analysis beyond 2047 to 2070.

"Originally, the energy model was developed for 2047 but we are now upgrading it up to 2070. This will be a bottom-up model," the first official said.

The model aims to balance both supply and demand. In the case of mismatches, it adjusts by considering energy exports or imports.

The model encompasses supply sectors like power, renewable energy, and bioenergy, as well as demand sectors including mobility, agriculture, industry, and cooking. The industrial sector accounts for the largest share of energy demand.