India and the US will trade more in the energy sector in the coming years, confirmed Piyush Goyal, India’s Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, who is currently in the US to further talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement between the two countries.
"Clearly, the world recognises that (energy security) is one area where we all have to work together. India is a big player in the energy field... we are big importers of energy from across the world, including from the US," Goyal said in New York on Tuesday, where he delivered a keynote address at an event, Energy Security in a Shifting Global Landscape: Building Resilient Energy Markets Across Borders, that was hosted by the Consulate General of India in New York, US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), and India's leading decarbonisation solutions provider, ReNew.
Calling the US a “close friend” and “natural partner”, Goyal said India’s energy security goals will have a very high element of US involvement and help ensure price stability within the country as energy sources are diversified and “limitless possibilities” unlocked with the US on various fronts, including nuclear power.
"It's an area that we've been talking of for a long time. There were certain elements which needed to be set right. And I believe we are working in India to support private efforts on nuclear power," he said.
Insisting that trade must not be “weaponised”, the minister said countries must ensure a regular, resilient supply of critical minerals, referring to China’s monopoly on the production and processing of rare earth minerals and its decision to restrict its imports.
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"I think the best way forward for all of us is to ensure resilient critical mineral supplies, see how we can diversify our sources so that trade is not weaponised. We have to work on creating infrastructure, particularly transmission grid infrastructure within countries and across borders which can become the backbone of clean energy transition for different nations,” he added, and said all countries have a collective responsibility to align their regulatory frameworks in a way that guarantees cross-border exchange of energy without geopolitics overtaking energy security.
Saying India continues to invest in nuclear power, Goyal said it is in a “sweet spot” to double its nuclear power sources and expand its clean energy mission over the next five years.
“We hope to grow from 250 gigawatt to 500 gigawatt. It does have challenges related to price and energy costs, which will need to be addressed. We'll have to make it more competitive,” he said.
Referring to the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which, he said, has far-reaching implications, the Commerce and Industry minister said the EU risks being isolated if it enforces the CBAM.
"It could isolate the EU and hurt their economy, because they would be like a small island. Everybody else around them would be trading, while they would become price-competitive and actually cause inflation in their own economy,” Goyal said, adding that costs of infrastructure and cost of living would become unviable, rendering the EU’s products to lose market share and exports.
"This green protectionism is like a trap. If somebody buries his head, he may find it very difficult to come out of the sand," the minister added.
Noting that September 22 is the commencement of Navratri, an auspicious day in the Hindu calendar, he said the belief is that whatever is initiated on this day, is expected to “turn for the better”, hinting at auspicious beginnings to renewed trade talks between India and the US after a few months of stalemate.
Goyal was accompanied by Member of Parliament, Anurag Thakur; Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Pankaj Jain; USISPF CEO and President, Mukesh Agni; ReNew co-founder, Vaishali Nigam Sinha, and ReNew Chairman and CEO, Sumant Sinha.
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