RK Singh interview highlights | India is the brightest star in energy transition, says minister

The minister says land subsidence in Joshimath has nothing to do with NTPC’s Tapovan Vishnugad hydropower project.

Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy RK Singh said India has the fastest rate of energy transition in the world.

In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol at Davos, Singh also defended the National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NPTC) project at Joshimath in Uttarakhand. He noted that the project came up only in 2009, while the issues have been plaguing the region for many decades.

Here are the highlights from the interview:

1. India has been the brightest star in energy transition – the country has the fastest rate of transition.

2. NTPC project has been functioning (in Joshimath) since 2009. It is 15 km away from Joshimath and there are numerous villages between the two spots. In fact, there is a village right next to the NTPC project, where nothing happened.

3. The problem is that Joshimath is built on part of an old landslide. This is a very old landslide site and the rocks below it are not solid. They are individual rocks and that’s the problem.

4. No power crisis has happened. What happened is that the country's demand has grown by 10.6 percent. In the past two months, it grew by 12.50 percent, and we met that demand.

5. Distribution companies have reduced outstanding by almost Rs 30,000-35,000 crore. So, by FY23-24, they would be able to wipe out the bulk of the outstanding.

6. The Electricity Amendment Bill is with the parliamentary standing committee. The panel should be able to complete the hearings and as soon as it is completed, it will be passed.

7. We are one major economy in which the energy availability did not get compromised, and the energy prices remained stable. In all other developed countries, energy prices went up by three or four times, and there were disruptions, but not in India.

8. We have emerged as the most attractive destination for investment in renewables in the world. Our green hydrogen and ammonia capacity are also going to be one of the largest in the world.

9. The world sees India as a growth story — a positive story in a world which has seen a lot of crises.

10. We have different countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia wanting to get connected with the ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ initiative. They want to get interconnected with India's grid.​