50 Percent Of India’s Power To Come From Non-fossil Fuels Before 2030: R.K. Singh

Earlier in the day, the audiences were addressed by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, India, and Shri. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC)’s India Ideas Summit 2022 organised yesterday at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi saw industry leaders, influential commentators, administrators, and law makers address the audience. Beginning with a traditional lamp lighting ceremony and welcome addresses, the on-ground event saw inspiring keynotes and power-packed panel discussions.

Attending the USIBC Women’s Lead at the India Ideas Summit, Smt. Smriti Irani, Hon’ble Minister for Women and Child Development said “I would like to see more women participate in decision making and be a part of the administrative, marketing, and strategic teams of organisations. I would like to see more involvement from women in the boardrooms not just to fill quotas but to significantly contribute to organisational strategy. The SME sector is flooded with women; it would be nice to have more women lead mid-size organisations and grow them into large corporations”. She further added “We need to know what kind of technological skills women need and support them in attaining those for the greater good of society”.

Commenting on the blueprint for India’s energy transition, Shri. R.K. Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Power, New & Renewable Energy said “We have transformed the power sector in the last 5 years – we decided we’ll have universal access and connected about 28.9 million homes in just 19 months. Today the availability of power in rural India is 22.5 to 23 hours on an average. We brought this up from about 12 hours which is a huge transformation in this sector.”

He further added “Our per capita emissions are among the lowest in the world. If you look at the total carbon load which accounts for global warming, our contribution to the total CO2 load till date is just 3.4 per cent and our population is 17.7 per cent. Despite all this we decided that our environment is important and set ourselves huge targets. We committed accordingly in COP21 in Paris, that in 2030, 40 % of our capacity will come from non-fossil fuels and I am happy to tell you that today we have reached 41.5 per cent of that 9 years in advance. Another target we have set for ourselves is to reduce the emission intensity of our economy by 33-35 % by 2030. I am happy to inform you that today we have reduced the emission intensity of our economy by 30% already. We will cross the target of having 50% of our capacity from non-fossil fuels before 2030. We will remain the fastest growing market for renewables in the world.”

Earlier in the day, the audiences were addressed by Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon’ble Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, India, and Shri. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology. The event also saw Gautam Adani, Founder & Chairman, Adani Group and Michael Dell, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Dell, being conferred with the Global Leadership Awards 2022.

As the world emerges from the aftermath of a global pandemic, the event also hosted a panel discussion on 21st century disease prevention attended by Dr. V.K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, Sanjeev Johar, DVP, APAC, Abbot Rapid Diagnostics Pte Ltd and Sarthak Ranade, MD, Janssen India & South Asia. The session was moderated by Soma Das, Senior Advisor, Chase-India.

To discuss the digital payments journey of India, a session moderated by Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs, U.S Chamber of Commerce was held between Jeremy Sturchio, Vice President, Head of Government Engagement, Asia Pacific, Visa and T. Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India. Additionally, a session moderated by Parikshit Luthra, Delhi Bureau Chief, CNBCTV-18 on digital strategies for expanding prosperity and inclusion was also held between Penny Burtt, Head of Public Policy and Government Relations, Asia Pacific, Stripe and Rajesh Kumar, MD & CEO, Regional President, India, TransUnion CIBIL.

As 5G represents the next big revolution of the telecom industry, there was a discussion on India’s 5G Future attended by AK Tiwari, Director General, Telecom, V. Raghunandan, Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Mark Aitken, Senior Vice President, Advanced Technology Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Sunil Abraham, Public Policy Director – Data Economy & Emerging Technologies, Meta and Girish Menon, Chief Strategy Officer, JetSynthesys (Jetline Group).

Atul Keshap, Ambassador (ret.), President, U.S.-India Business Council said “India and the U.S. share a high trust relationship. It’s only fitting that we come together to design the world of the future which is powered by the digital economy, innovation & ease of doing business. Today, we heard from ministers and principals from both governments, titans of industry and commerce and thought leaders shaping relations between the United States and India. As we celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence, we are also celebrating the US and India’s partnership for global good, led, ingrained, stitched, and constantly reinforced by business leaders. Our trade and commercial partnership, led first and foremost by the private sector, is the strength and sinew of our overall relationship that helps deliver on our shared interests and advances our shared values.”

About U.S.-India Business Council India (USIBC)

Established in 1975 at the behest of the U.S. and Indian Governments, the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) represents hundreds of top global companies operating across the United States, India, and the Indo-Pacific. Amid dynamic growth within the U.S.-India commercial partnership, we serve as the premier voice of industry and create connections between businesses and governments across both countries. Through our flagship Washington,